Legend of Zelda: Underworld Second Generation
by NadinLuciferHawk
Summary: The Sequel to Loz: Underworld. After decades of peace another menace rears its ugly head. The Second Generation is in danger and it's up to the heroes to save the day once again.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note**

This is the sequel to 'Legend of Zelda: Underworld'. You may want to read this first, because some of what happens can only be understood when you know the first part.

Like its predecessor, this will also be a Crossover between my favourite games Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and the Sacred series. And again this Fic will be only placed in LoZ, since there are no Sacred Fics, save crossovers.

But other than that? Pairings are Link/Zelda, Shadow/Ashei and Vaati/Midna; some surprise guests are included, too.

I do not own any of the games, characters or names. Otherwise I would not sit here and write this; I would count my money!

Anyways, have much fun reading and review a lot! Because then I can be sure you guys read it.

Please excuse any possible grammar mistakes. Grammar is a pain...

**Prolouge**

A pair of small feet pounded relentless against the hard rocky ground. In front of a beautifully ornamented stone archway however they came to a stop. The little boy to whom the feet belonged looked up to the looming stone archway with a mixture of excitement and awe.

Should he really go through that portal? He had never been on the other side. But Mommy and Daddy were always talking about that place. He wanted to see it with his own eyes.

Suddenly a little uncertain the little boy turned back to the huge looming black behemoth of stone. Mommy and Daddy were in there after all, asleep right about now. Should he really go and snoop around without telling his parents where he was?

He shook his head and turned back to the archway. Mommy and Daddy had too much to do; they were important persons for their people after all. But they could not play with him any more and this made him frustrated. But if that other world was so exciting like his parents always told him, he would certainly find someone to play there.

But wait. What was that name of that world? Hi-rul-e? And how was he supposed to get there anyways?

Luckily he remembered how the portal worked and steadied his footings. "Hirule!" he said. And in awe he watched as the portal opened up to respond to his wish. A brightly glowing sphere appeared in the middle of the portal and grew, stretching out to the archway. Only moments later the surface smoothed down, becoming like a mirror – or more like a lake with ripples running pulsing over its surface.

The little boy looked at his own reflection in this mirror. For a while he just stood there, preparing himself mentally to go through. A last time he looked back to the looming black palace behind him. "Don't worry, Fuu" he said to himself, "I'll just look at that Hirule and come back before Mommy and Daddy even know that I am gone"

The boy nodded to himself and went through the portal.

Only a few moments later the mirroring surface turned to a glowing disk and dissolved. The stone archway lay calm and serene there like before, not showing whatever happened here just now.

-o0o-

When the little boy exited the portal he felt strange. Not only was the funny tickling sensation in his nose strange. The world in which he was now was so very different to his home. Instead of the serene orange glowing clouds there was only pitch-black darkness there. Some brightly glowing dots were in the dark sky, and a funny white crescent-shaped object hung silently up there.

The sudden chill and darkness made him uneasy out of a sudden, and he wished for his Daddy. Daddy always had such a nice cape into which he could snuggle in when he was afraid. The strange cold but soft stuff against his bare feet was a strange sensation like he never felt before.

Unsettled the little boy took a look around, but there was nothing. There was a looming building a little way away, and inside were some welcoming lights flickering. The kid decided to go over there.

He did not come very far though. Suddenly he could hear a strange, high-pitched screech and whirled around. His eyes widened at what he saw there.

There was a tall figure, floating about a foot or so in the air. An eerie light radiated from it. The figure was garbed in long, tattered robes and he could not see its face because it was only darkness against the dark sky. It held a blue-glowing lantern in its spindly hand.

Afraid the kid took a step back, then another. And before he could even compute the situation he was already running. The figure, however, screeched again and dove after the kid.

The high-pitched scream of a child echoed then over the place and faded away unheard.

Nothing but blackness remained behind.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Breathless a tall, exotic woman shot around another corner. Some black and white pattered creatures jumped out of her way when she ran past them. "Fuu!" she shouted, "Fuu! Where are you?"

She ran outside the looming black castle and right towards a soldier. "Soldier!" she yelled, "Have you seen Fuu?"

"N…No, your majesty!" the soldier answered stuttering, "Is he gone?"

The beautiful queen's hand flew to her forehead as she paced around. "Yes. He was not in his room in the morning… Ach, where can that boy be?"

The soldier stiffed and he asked: "Shall we prepare search parties?"

"Not yet" the queen said, "But keep that in mind"

Just then another soldier came running towards them, saying, that the queen was wanted somewhere else. She of course started into said direction.

On an elevated slope nearby was a huge black beast with golden horns, bat-like wings and a single eye waiting. Some green tattoos were running over the black body.

"Vaati" the queen said as she came up to him, "Did you find Fuu?"

The huge black eye shook its wings. **"He's not in his favourite place, Midna. I sent my spies out, but he is nowhere to be found"** While it said that, the eye took the shape of a young, attractive man with pale lilac hair and royal robes. He was over a head shorter than Queen Midna and most of her people.

Midna pinched the bridge of her nose. "By the Gods! Where could that boy be?" She glared at the man with her fiery eyes: "Gufuu truly is your son, Wind Sorcerer Vaati"

Vaati returned that glare and crossed his arms. "He is your son as well!"

For a while the two glared at each other, but finally Midna sighed out. "Let's not quarrel over that. Our son is gone!"

"You are right" the sorcerer replied. "And we don't know where he is…" Suddenly his head snapped up as one of his spies notified him via his telepathical link. "One of my spies found something!" he shouted and started towards the position of his spy. Midna followed him on the heel.

Soon they stopped in front of an ornamented stone archway. And there was a little green piece of cloth lying. Vaati picked it up and gasped. "It's a part of his clothes!"

Midna looked dumbfounded at the archway. "Don't tell me… please don't tell me he went through that!" Her head dropped and shoulders slumped. "He really _is_ your son"

"We can discuss that topic later" Vaati waved her off, "Let's go and retrieve him"

"That kid is in for some serious detention" Midna mumbled.

-oo0oo-

The king was pacing restless around in his palace, watched by his worried wife the queen. He stopped his aimless pacing and turned to her: "Zelda! I should be out there!" he said and threw his arms into the air, "I should be looking for Fai!"

"Link!" Zelda threw in, "I am just as nervous as you are, but our men are looking everywhere. And our daughter is not the only one that got abducted!"

Link massaged his forehead. "Yeah… all the children of Hyrule have disappeared, from the Gorons to the Ordonians and even the Zora children"

"Please calm down" Zelda said, "You have to be the guide for our people, Link. What should they think when they saw their King, their Hero, pacing around like a headless cuccoo?"

Link huffed out and slumped his shoulders. "You are right, Zelda… But as soon as they find out what happened, I'll go out there and bring the children back"

Zelda tried to smile but found it hard to achieve. Their daughter, Princess Failitia, had disappeared like all other children. King Ralis had been here, together with patriarch Darbus and the mayor Colin. All over Hyrule the children had vanished without a trace. "Our best man is on that, Link" she said finally, "And don't forget, he's your Doppelganger"

Link sighed again and went over to his throne. He picked up the sword resting against the armrest. "Fi" he said, "Have you found anything?"

At once there was the sound of chiming bells and a blue spirit flipped out of the Master Blade. It resembled a blue girl. "There are tracks of dark magic running throughout Hyrule, Master Link" she said, "I can not yet pinpoint to where they lead"

"Link!" someone shouted from the entrance. The King turned around where a warrior came running. He wore silver gleaming armour with inlaid rubies. His underclothes were black like the cloak that flapped now wildly behind him. A huge black sword hung at his belt. But other than that he was looking almost exactly like the King himself, except for his pale features. Beside him was another spirit running, but this one was male with dark skin and a distinctive pattern of white diamond-shapes and orange runes.

"Shadow! Ghirahim!" Zelda called out relieved, "Did you find anything?"

"No traces of the children" Shadow said as he came to a stop. His pale pink eyes looked worried over to them and Zelda knew that his own sons had gone as well. "But we found some details about who abducted them" He narrowed his eyes. "Poes"

"Poes?" Link called out. "Why would they do something like that?"

"Only a powerful sorcerer can order a Poe around" Zelda said, "But why would a sorcerer abduct children?"

"I have no idea. It would be best if we…"

"Hey!" another voice called out. A woman wearing similar armour like Shadow came running in, only without the cloak. She had black hair and grey eyes and always looked a little tired. "There's someone waiting at the Seraphim Portal down before the castle"

"Ashei?" Link asked surprised, "I thought you were looking for the children?"

She huffed out. "I was. But the activation of the portal attracted my attention…"

"Someone's coming" the spirit Ghirahim warned them. His white eyes narrowed before an animalistic grin crept onto his face. "And I think you know them"

"Them?"

In a flurry of black shapes two figures appeared right in front of them. Link, Zelda, Shadow and Ashei relaxed as they recognised the intruders. "Vaati! Midna!" Link said, "How fortunate for you to show up, we need…"

"Link" Midna said, cutting him off. "We have to talk to you"

-0-

Link leaned back on the chair. After Midna and Vaati had simply barged into the throne room, all of them had relocated into the library to be able to talk in peace. They were surprised at the sight of the two from the Twilight, because they had not changed since last time.

Midna was still an exotic beauty with fiery hair and even fierier eyes. She still wore nearly nothing, showing off her black and pale blue skin. The scar on her abdomen and foot were also still visible. Vaati on the other hand was much more clothed, but instead of dark blue and purple he now wore black and green very much like Midna did. His pale skin and lavender hair contrasted nicely to his new clothes.

But other than that none of them had visibly aged. Not even after the birth of their son Gufuu.

All others had aged.

Link and Shadow still looked similar. Both had broader chests and shoulders, they were taller and stronger altogether – now almost reaching up to Midna and towering a head above Vaati. They were now around forty now, with clean-cut beards and without the floppy hats. Link wore the typical royal garbs of the Hylian King, complete with crown and cloak. Shadow instead had the garments of a Royal Hylian Knight. Vaati had to admit they looked extremely good in those clothes. Somewhat more manly than 20 years ago – and certainly more manly than he did.

Zelda – even aged as well – was still a very beautiful woman. As Queen she was truly a respective person, and she also looked like that. Ashei – who was Shadow's wife – was a Royal Knight as well. And she looked beautiful as well, despite her age and the scar running over her right cheek.

"Let me get this straight again" Ghirahim threw in from where he was seated on a cupboard, breaking the silence. "Your son Gufuu disappeared from home while all children in Hyrule are vanished as well?"

"Since no other Twili children have vanished, I doubt he was forced to leave our realm" Midna sighed out. "Rather I believe he came here on his own accord, and got abducted by… what did you say? Poes?"

"Poes normally don't go around stealing children" Shadow grumbled.

"If a sorcerer or wizard controls them, they might do something like that" Zelda replied. She turned to Vaati: "Can you track the children down?"

"Since my son is probably there where your children are, this is the best approach" the sorcerer said, "And since I know what to track, I can do that"

"Can you track the children?" Ashei asked. Visibly relieved she said: "That's good…"

"No, not the kids" Vaati threw in. "But I do can track the Poes… they are sources of magic after all. Just give me a while"

Vaati excused himself, Midna and Zelda decided to assist him in that case. Link, Shadow, Ashei and the two Sword Spirits were released. They went outside and watched the people of Hyrule running around, looking desperate for the whereabouts of their missing children.

"And what now?" Ashei asked.

"Master V knows what he's doing" Shadow said, taking his wife in his arms, "And our boys know how to defend themselves"

Ashei sighed. "I think you are right… what will we do once he found them?"

"We are going to get them out again!" Link growled and drew the Master Blade. "No matter what may come"

Ghirahim grinned at that. "So you are going to another adventure? Sounds good. I got tired of slaying only weak monsters!"

Link shrugged. "Oh well. Then we will simply go on another adventure. Won't be the first time anyways…Let's prepare"

The five of them nodded and went into different directions away. As soon as the three mages found out where the Poes brought the children, they would be there and hunt them down.

Hopefully it would not be too late then.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Fai!" a voice said. She could feel her shoulder being roughly shaken. "Hey Fai! Get up!"

Groaning the girl grumbled: "Let me sleep"

"Fai!" the voice – or was it another? – yelled, "Wake up! We're in trouble!"

"Trouble?" the girl asked half-asleep. Only now did she notice that she was not lying in her nice soft bed but rather on a hard stone ground. She was wide-awake within the moment and sat up. In front of her were two boys, slightly older than she was. Both looked almost the same, with black hair and unnatural red eyes and they wore simple sleeping clothes without shoes. They also looked a lot like her father when he was younger. "Kuat? Iae?" she asked confused, looking around in the large, dark dungeon in which they currently were. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea" Kuat said. His twin Iae looked around and added: "But we are not the only ones. Look Fai! These must be all the kids of Hyrule"

Fai got up, shivering at the chilly temperatures of their prison. The fact that she was only wearing her sleeping clothes did not help in any way.

Everywhere around them were young children. She could see Hylians, Humans, Zoras, Gorons and even some strongly tanned girls with jewels on their forehead. They were all as confused as she was, some trying to find an exit, some sitting huddled in a corner and crying for their parents and some were simply sitting there hopeless.

"What happened?" Fai asked terrified, "Where are we? How did we come here?"

"No idea" Kuat replied, "But we have to get out of here.

Iae tore his hair and growled: "If we at least had a sword or something!" Suddenly he got an idea and turned to his cousin: "Hey Fai. Can you still use your magic?"

"My magic is not really strong yet – Mom could not teach me the more potent ones"

"But you could try to get us out of here" Kuat said almost pleadingly. "I don't want to stay here like sitting ducks!"

"We have to inform dad and uncle Link" Iae added, "They can get us out of here"

"Still, I would like to be able to defend myself" his brother retorted and crossed his arms. Angrily he kicked some dust up from the stone floor. "Urgh! Even dad's irritating sword spirit would be a help now"

Their conversation was cut short when they suddenly heard the shrill scream of a rusty iron door being opened. The children became scared when a huge Darknut suddenly entered the prison and closed in on them with thundering steps. The kids scrambled away, rushing away from the monster. Kuat and Iae pulled their cousin into a small alcove to evade being crushed into a wall.

The monster stopped in the door and turned to something next to it. An ear-piercing cry of a child made their hearts stop for a moment. What would this monster want with a child? Somehow they did not want to think about that.

Suddenly there was a flash of magic. Purple lightning appeared there and raced through the entire room. Kuat gave a short alarmed outcry as he shielded his younger cousin and brother with his body. But the lightning had reached them already, momentarily blinding them.

Fai could hear herself cry out.

-oo0oo-

Back in Hyrule Vaati's head snapped suddenly up. "What's up, Vaati?" Zelda asked him confused.

"I felt a disturbance in the magical net of this world…" the sorcerer said slowly.

"Yeah, I felt it too"

"And me too" Midna said. A little unsettled she asked: "What could that have been?"

"No idea. But it was a powerful output of energy" Vaati explained. "It came from the west"

"Could that be the children?" Zelda asked anew. "Failitia has a certain talent for magic"

"Oh, she got it from your side of the family then?"

"Guess so… could that have been your son?"

"He's five" Midna threw in, "Even though it may have been that he inherited our powers, it's highly unusual if he could use it. And especially not on this level"

"Nevertheless, it may be a hint" Vaati said. He closed his eyes and reached out for that place. "There's a strong magic deep in the west" he finally said, "And the tracks of the Poes lead there – this must be where the children are"

"I'll get Link immediately" Zelda said and started out of the door, "We are going to hit the road in half an hour!"

Midna remained behind. Worried she turned to Vaati. "Do you think it was Gufuu?"

"I have no idea" the wizard said, "But I do hope it was not him" He narrowed his eyes in worry. "Because a spell of this proportion is extremely exertive, perhaps too much for a five-year old"

-oo0oo-

"Uff… Kuat" Fai grumbled, "I think you can let go again. I'm getting squashed here"

"Wait… I have to unfurl me first…"

"Please make it quick" his brother added, "My arm's getting numb"

But as soon as the three adolescents were out of the alcove they immediately wished they were not.

"What… what happened?" Fai asked terrified. But her cousins could not answer her that.

Every single person in this dungeon, every single child and even the Darknut, had been turned to cold, lifeless rock. Kuat and Fai looked around in deep shock while Iae went up to one of the petrified children and knocked carefully against it. But it was only rock now.

"What in the three Goddesses' names has happened?"

"And why are we only ones unaffected?"

Fai cleared her throat and said: "I… I think my magic is the reason for that… Mom said I had a talent for shields"

"Oooooh, so this is why"

"But still, what happened here?"

"Don't care about that" Kuat said and pointed to the door. "The monster did not close the door before it was stoned! Let's get out of here"

The other two nodded and wanted to follow the teenager, however, a small sound from somewhere besides them attracted their attention.

Whimpering; the silent snivelling of a child. Fai's maternal instincts came through and she walked over in search for the child. Her cousins looked first confused at each other and then back to the blonde girl.

Soon they discovered the source of snivelling. In a corner sat a small pile of white and black, quivering with heart-breaking sobs. A little child. And it looked so incredible lost.

"A child!" Fai cried out. Quickly she came over and knelt down before it. It could be not older than 4 to 6. "Shh… it's okay… you don't need to be afraid any more. We're here"

"What's with the little one?" Iae asked and came down. But the child continued sobbing.

Only after a lot of coaxing the kid looked slowly up to the three persons in front of it. Two black haired boys with red eyes and one blue-eyed blonde girl. At first the three thought it was a small girl because of the long pale hair. But then they recognised a little boy.

The boy hiccupped and asked: "D…Daddy?"

Their gazes softened. "No. I'm afraid your daddy is not here" Fai said soothing. "Come here, my little one. We have to get out of here"

Even though the little boy was extremely terrified, he felt that these three would not do anything to him. So he slowly scrambled back to his feet. The boy wore remarkable black clothes with green pattering – the patterns formed an eye on his chest. His pale hair was neatly cut and put together in a ponytail. Most intriguing however, was the colour of his skin. It was partially very pale, almost white, and partially black. He had black hands and one black foot. His wide red eyes were of a very fiery colour.

While the princess took the little boy into her arms to sooth him a little, Kuat turned to his brother. "Hey Iae… doesn't that kid look familiar?"

"Somehow… weren't dad and uncle Link visited by a woman with similar patterns some years ago?"

"Yeah, Fai had her sixth birthday"

Fai looked to her cousins. "Wait… are you talking about auntie Midna?"

"Mommy!" the little boy exclaimed a little happier.

"Midna's your mommy?" Iae asked. The kid nodded to that. A little confused Iae looked to his brother: "Does that mean that purple sorcerer is his father?"

"Well… the hair looks similar"

"What's your name?" Fai asked, "I'm Fai. And these are my cousins Kuat and Iae"

"…Fuu" the boy said.

"Okay. Fuu? We have to get away to find your mommy and daddy. Can you walk?"

The child nodded and Fai took him by his hand. She turned to her cousins: "Can you two lead the way?"

"Leave that to us, cousin" Kuat grinned. Iae added: "With or without weapon!"

Quickly the adolescents left the dungeon room to find their way out.

None of them noticed the Imp Poe that disappeared through a wall.

-0-

Their getaway was cut short, however. They had just left the dungeons and found themselves in a large, but bland entrance room and started towards the door when something appeared in front of them.

Some red spots danced before them, forcing the four to an abrupt stop. And out of the spots stepped a tall man. He had a hard face, long, pointed ears and dark hair. His eyes were of a piercing grey colour as he scowled at the kids. Kuat and Iae placed themselves between their cousin and this man, holding up a pair of rusty swords they found in the dungeon.

This man was a sorcerer. And he was not looking very happy…


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Six horses were stopped at the banks of Lake Hylia. Vaati took a look around and said: "I see they finally managed to build a decent path down to the lake"

"Too many tourists fell into the lake from great height, so we had this path build" Zelda explained.

"We have no time for something like that" Link grumbled, "Vaati! You said the children would be in the west"

"We're not even close" the sorcerer explained and slipped off his horse, "They must be somewhere in the desert"

Ashei paled noticeably: "In the desert?"

At once she jumped off the horse and started towards the hidden path leading onto the desert plateau. Shadow kept her back: "Midna found out that they are in a building of some sorts. Don't worry, they'll be okay"

"Nevertheless we should start right away" Link urged them, "Midna's got enough water with her to satisfy a small army…" he stopped, blinked and asked: "Where do you hide that anyways?"

"In the same place into which I put that bridge once" she deadpanned. "Pretty unlimited hammer space, did you already forget?" Quickly she and everyone else dismounted.

"Okay, any idea how we are supposed to cross the desert quickly?" Shadow asked anew, "I mean we can't walk well on sand…"

"Shadow, you are one lucky man" Link said and patted his doppelganger's shoulders. "See those Bulbins over there?"

"Ooooh, nice" Zelda grinned, "And they have their war hogs with them"

Two and a half minutes later the six mounted three Bulbo Hogs and rode out into the desert. The huge pigs were a lot heavier and larger than the horses, allowing two persons each to ride them, but they had broader hooves and were better adapt at moving through the desert.

Shadow directed his Bulbo a little towards the one used by Vaati and Midna. "Care to remind me why we are riding these things instead of simply having you two teleport us?"

"Because…" Midna said, putting stress on the 'because', "We can only safely teleport somewhere we know. We have no idea how the place looks where the children are, so we would risk severe injury or death of we teleported there"

"…" the king's doppelganger said to that. While he had his hog fall a little back, his wife said: "We will come to them soon enough, dear… at least I pray for that"

-oo0oo-

Kuat and Iae grabbed their swords harder and kept the angrily scowling man in their field of view. Fai and the little Fuu were safely behind their backs. If they had to fight, they would fight, no matter who their foe was.

The tall man finally broke the tense silence. "My spies told me that all of the children had been turned to stone – and yet you brats are not! Why is that?"

"My mom's protecting us!" Fai yelled at him, "And she will be here and kick you in the ass!"

"And our dad will do so, too!" the twins shouted.

The man raised an eyebrow. "The Queen of Hyrule, heh?" He growled again: "No matter, not even she would stand a chance against Daloriel the Depraved!" His anger turned really bad now and he shouted: "Or she would have had no chance if you brats would not have turned all the other children into stone! Now they are useless for me!"

"What do you plan with the children?" Iae hissed, "Why did you kidnap us from our homes?"

The wizard Daloriel pinched the bridge of his nose angrily. "You brats would not understand the complexity behind my plan, so it is no use telling you"

Suddenly there was the sound of flying Poes and the thundering steps of Darknuts as the kids found themselves surrounded by monsters. Fuu yelped at that and clung to Fai's legs while the twins backed away until they were all touching at their shoulders.

"You brats have interfered with my glorious plans! And for that you will be punished!" Daloriel yelled.

In his fit of rage he created a red-glowing magical projectile in his hand and threw it against the juveniles. Kuat and Iae gasped at that, alarming their cousin. Fai saw the orb flying straight at them and activated her own innate powers to create a shield around them.

Only then something unexpected happened. Fuu, startled by the sudden event, cried out. And in his panic he activated his magical powers – like he did when he turned everyone to stone. But in that moment the magical projectile hit the shield and a strange, unforeseen counter reaction happened.

The four adolescents disappeared in a flurry of black spots.

The Depraved looked at the spot where they had been, blinking in confusion. Then he looked down to his hands. "I… didn't hit them that hard!"

"Sir" a Poe spoke up, "With respect, but you did not vaporize them. They seem to have teleported away"

"Teleport?" Daloriel yelled, "To where?"

The Poe tracked down the trail left behind, but had to admit: "I can not say where to, my lord. But one thing is sure: They are not in the world of the Goddesses anymore"

"Not…" Daloriel asked disbelievingly, "How? Only very powerful sorcerers can cross the boundaries between worlds that easily! Do you want to say that this brat is more powerful than _me_?"

The Poe yelped and disappeared to safe itself. Daloriel was fuming – one could literally see the steam coming out of his ears! But the wizard calmed down and hissed: "Oh well. Four children more or less won't affect my plan in any way. I still have enough innocent souls" He turned towards the dungeons. "Let's see to them" He sighed out. "And I hate looking for counter spells…"


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Despite the steadily rising temperature, the Bulbo Hogs did not even seem to tire. These creatures were bred to live in the desert and thus they could easily cross it.

This was the second day when the Hylian Royal pair, the two royal knights and the Twili Royal Pair started to find the lost children. Time was running, especially after Zelda notified them of another strong surge of magic coming from the far west.

By now they had long left the borders of Hyrule, now travelling through the no-man's land once inhabited by the Gerudo tribe.

Ghirahim knew that they were still here, but he did not surface to tell them that.

Only a few hours later he wished he did so. The three Bulbos were just crossing a wadi when Fi informed them of some life signs in their direct periphery.

And before they could even react probable, the sand seemed to explode away when a human figure broke through the surface and jumped right towards Shadow and Ashei. Shadow had no chance to react when the figure crushed into him and his wife, throwing them off the hog to the dusty ground. The Bulbo reared up and dashed panicked away, only barely missing the Bulbos in front of it.

"Shadow!" Link yelled appalled. In that moment, however, a second figure appeared in front of Vaati and Midna's Bulbo. Only due their teleportation abilities the two could escape before the figure smashed into the Bulbo, actually knocking the huge hog off its hooves and onto its side where it remained, dazed.

"Gerudo!" Zelda shouted in Link's ear. Only now did Link recognise the two figures.

"…I thought they were extinct…" he could hear Vaati mutter.

In front of them stood a tall, young Gerudo. She wore a simple red top and red harem pants, carrying two scimitars at her belt. Her red hair matched nicely to the red gem on her forehead and her golden eyes burnt with a fiery determination.

Her companion however, the one standing behind them and facing off with Shadow and Ashei, was slightly different. Instead of beautiful effeminate curves she was broader and stronger. Her hair looked like fire – the fact that it was uncombed and not in any kind of braid fuelled this impression. Even her eyes looked as if aflame, very much like Midna's did – only this one here looked far less friendly. She too wore similar clothes like her companion, only she had no gauntlets and instead black, scale-like armour draped over her back and arms.

Oh wait; Link thought; she actually _has_ scales!

Somehow this features and the black lines tattooed around her eyes seemed familiar to him, but he could not place it.

The Gerudo in front of them twisted her lips in a really unpleasant smirk. "Look at that, Diaanja!" she laughed, "It's the Hylian Royal pair!"

"You're right, Sam" the other replied, but her voice was a lot more gruff than that of the other, "Why does Hyrule sent its King into the desert?"

"And especially so alone?"

"He's not alone, ladies" Vaati threw in. But they ignored him.

"Please, we do not want to conquer you or something" Zelda begun. Despite her husband's objection she slipped off the Bulbo and stepped up the Gerudo referred to as 'Sam'. "Our children have been spirited away, and we followed their tracks here"

"Children…?" the Gerudo asked surprised. "Your children vanished?"

"All the children are gone, all of them" Zelda told them, "Not only the Hylian children, but also humans, Gorons and even Zora. Even our own daughter has been abducted"

Sam looked at her confused. She then waved at her companion. Even though the burlier Gerudo was not content with leaving the intruders just like that, she came over anyways to talk to her.

While the two were discussing heatedly, Link too slipped off the Bulbo and came to the other five. "What's going on?" he asked.

"No idea" Shadow said and shrugged his shoulders. "But they look definitely upset about something"

"It is decided" the Gerudo said suddenly. "We will take you to the Gerudo fortress to meet our King Mishirla. He will decide what to do with you"

"Thank you for allowing…"

"Cut that sweet talk, Hylian" Diaanja snarled, "If you try anything funny, we will not hesitate to bring you down"

"Okay, noted" Link said. "We are only interested in finding our children. We won't do anything funny"

Somewhat satisfied the Gerudo allowed them to mount their hogs again. The one that panicked had stopped some yards away and the other one got back to its feet. They led the six out of the wadi to where they left their own mounts.

"What are those?" Shadow asked baffled. Except for Vaati no-one had ever seen such mounts.

"Dromedary camels?" Vaati asked surprised, "Haven't seen one in a long time now"

"These are our mounts" Sam explained matter-of-factly. "Not quite as strong as your boars, but easier to control and to handle" She shot a glare at the hogs before she carried on. "And I thought you Hylians would ride only horses"

"We 'borrowed' these from some Bulbins" Ashei explained, "They are better suited for a cross-desert trip than our horses"

The remaining trip was completed in silence.

-oo0oo-

Strange, unearthly sounds reached his ear. He never, ever heard anything similar before. Okay, the rushing of water was known.

Kuat awoke. Confused the young blinked at his surrounding. He was in a strange turquoise green shrubbery, lying on a green, soft mattress of grass and leaves. He could see some weathered stones through the shrub.

But where were the others? At once Kuat propped himself up and turned his head around. Much to his relieve his brother was sprawled over his legs; Fai and that little boy were nearby. But his head killed him!

Groaning Kuat shoved his twin off to sit up.

"Ohhhhh… what happened?" he heard his brother say. Iae had also awoken. He too was confused at the sight and sat up abruptly – wishing a moment later he didn't.

"Kuat?" he groaned, "Where are we?"

"I have no idea" the older of the twins said, "It's not a place in Hyrule I know"

His brother looked at him with slightly bloodshot eyes. "Shall that mean the little Fuu is a sorcerer?"

"Obviously" Kuat muttered, "But not able to fully control his powers – I highly doubt he wanted us to come here… wherever that is…" Both jerked their heads around at another unfamiliar cry of a beast.

"Let's wake them up. We have to find shelter" Iae said. "I don't know what monsters are roaming here, would be bad if they got us"

"At least we have weapons"

About ten minutes later they had managed to get their cousin Fai back to her feet. Poor little Fuu was too exhausted to get up, so he simply slept in again. Now Iae carried him while his brother and cousin took up the swords.

He had to grin. Normally a princess was not allowed to fight with a sword, but Link had simply taught it to his daughter in secret. She was very adapted at fighting with this weapon, although she was not as strong as a boy in her age.

"We'll take turns in who's got to carry the boy" Kuat said then, "Let's look for a place to stay"

"What will we do then?" Fai asked worried, "How will we find our parents?"

"We have to wait for them" Iae threw in, "We have no idea where we are after all. We have to find someone that helps us"

"Finding a settlement would be good… hopefully they won't be hostile"

"We are only children" Fai said, "Hopefully whoever lives here can take us in for a while… if someone lives here, that is"

The four started to move. Their way led them through an overgrown forest. Moss and lichen hung everywhere, making them wonder if there had been people here at all. But then again, there were ruins everywhere. Huge pillars still reached up into the sky, huge, finely decorated and worked stone pieces lay around. The ground had been paved some time in the past. But now everything was weathered and in shambles. Nature recaptured what was once taken from it.

At the banks of a river they stopped to rest for a while. The river was wide and impassable – and of a strange greenish colour.

"Okay. Let's ask this again" Kuat grumbled, "Where are we?"

"I have no idea…" Fai said and looked around. "But look at the sky"

They looked up. Only about 200 feet above them was bathed in a blue light. Above that, however, there was only blackness. There was no moon, no stars and no sun; the only light came from huge blue crystals.

Iae shuddered. "It's as if we were in a cave or something. Can you feel that? There's no wind"

"But there should be no vegetation in a cave" Fai threw in. "But here is!"

"A magical cave then?"

Another strange sound startled them. "Let's continue" Kuat said, "We have to find a secure place"

Quickly the adolescents scrambled to their feet and began to move again. They were not very far when they saw the reason for the strange sounds.

"What are those things?" Iae asked disgusted, "Lice?"

"Lice look different" Kuat said, disgusted and scared as well, "And they are smaller"

In front of them stood some strange beasts. It were about four or six, and they gave off strange sounds. They had a short, drop-shaped body with thick green armour plates and had two pointy legs at their front and a single hind leg at the pointy end of their body. However, their head was strange. It was not distinguishable from the short trunk-like neck. They had seemingly no eyes and only a small mouth with four sharp teeth. These creatures were about as tall as Fai, and the way they moved looked somewhat funny and awkward.

"These things… they can't be of natural origin, can they?" Fai whispered afraid.

"We have _exploding bugs_ back home" Iae grumbled, "But you are right. I never saw anything like that. Could they be hostile?"

"We should not take any chances" Kuat hissed. "There's a buried building over there. It looks pretty safe; let's hide in there"

Quickly they made their way over to the entrance. The strange lice did not notice them as they slipped past them one after another.

"Kuat…" Fai began, "We are in some catacombs…"

The three looked around scared. The walls, floor and ceiling consisted of white, polished stone. Crystal lamps dipped the rooms in a soft blue hue. But there were sarcophagi on either side of the room. There were many similar rooms in here, each lined with about ten to twenty sarcophagi.

Iae gulped. "Well… it's better than staying outside anyways"

"We need to find something to eat soon" Fai sighed out. "But first we should wait until the little guy comes about again"

"Yeah, maybe he brought us to his home"

"And then?"

"Then we start to look for a settlement or something. Someone has to live here! And perhaps they can help us out of here"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Gerudo fortress was a large u-shaped complex of low loam buildings. In the center was a dusty training place, right behind that was an oasis with fields and palms around. The houses had flat roofs, allowing the inhabitants to enter and exit on top of the buildings. A tall, thick loam wall surrounded the whole complex and the fields. The whole city had been built at the flank of a steep cliff. Since there was only one entrance into the city and into the complex, a few guards could control all that entered or exited the fortress.

After they brought the camels and hogs into the stables – they were built between wall and main building and contained a few horses as well – they followed their guides to their king. Most Gerudo were interested in the arrivals – especially in the attractive but effeminate Wind Sorcerer, the Hylian King and his Royal Knight doppelganger.

Since there were only women here this was only understandable.

Inside the fortress the temperature was much more bearable. The thick loam walls were perfect heat shields. Red curtains served as doors, windows were – if present – simple rectangular openings in the walls and red pillows and low wooden tables stood in the rooms. Red tapestries bearing the Gerudo symbol hung at the walls.

The group came past a large central room with the statue of a serpent goddess. This was the Gerudos' goddess since the desert-dwelling tribe did not believe in the Three Golden Goddesses.

Soon the eight had reached the main room. Here was the King of the Gerudo waiting – the only male Gerudo. Sam and Diaanja bowed and moved aside, signalling the other six to step up to him.

The King sat on a pile of red pillows at the center wall of the room. He looked a lot like Ganondorf, only younger, less greenish and with a more healthy dark hazel skin colour. He was young, only about 30 years old, and still he seemed to be experienced and wise beyond his age. Soft golden eyes rested on the six, especially on the Royal Hylian pair.

The Gerudo got up from his position and stepped down the small flight of stairs separating the main room from his place. His red hair was pretty long, put together into a braid and well-cut like his beard.

"It has been eons since a Hylian has entered the walls of the Gerudo fortress" he said. His voice was pleasantly deep and calm. "We are well met, King of Hyrule. My name is Mishirla"

"I am Link, King of Hyrule and … Hero of the three Goddesses" Link said a little awkward. "These are my companions. My beloved wife and mate Zelda, Queen of Hyrule. Midna and Vaati, the Royal Pair of the Twili and my trusted Royal Knights Shadow and Ashei"

"My guard told me that … your children have been abducted" Mishirla said, "This is a strange occurrence… since our children have vanished as well – even my own daughters"

Zelda narrowed her eyes. "Even here?" she asked aghast, "Then this is not an attack on Hyrule alone?"

"Please, your Majesty" Ashei said respectfully, "Can you tell us what happened?"

Mishirla sighed out and crossed his arms behind his back. "Two nights ago there were Poe Spirits invading this fortress. Our sorceresses could not fend off all of them, and they took all the children with them"

"We have tracked down the Poes here, deep into the west" Vaati threw in, "This is why we came into your realm"

"Please, Mishirla" Link began, "We only need to cross this realm to find our children"

The Gerudo King went over that. Finally he said: "West, you said? One of my envoys came back a few hours earlier. She told me that there was a strange castle in the mountains there… and there were some Poes in the direct periphery… you have the permission to cross my lands"

"This must be were they hide!" Link exclaimed. "Thank you Mishirla!"

He wanted to turn and go out, but the Gerudo held them back: "Link… was it? Normally a Gerudo would never, ever ask for an outsider's help. Normally we would simply go there and fight us to the children… but our troops have to go south. A troop of marauding Sand Wraith was discovered there. They plundered one of our villages. Before they come here, we have to fight them off… so I can not send any army to rescue the children"

Link smiled a little. "Don't worry. We are going to get the kids out of there"

Mishirla nodded. He turned to the two who brought them here. "If there really are Poes, a powerful sorcerer must be behind that" He waved them over, "They are my strongest warriors. They will be accompanying you"

"Our gratefulness is immense" Zelda said.

"Mishirla" Sam threw in, "Is this a good decision? They are Hylians – our former enemies…"

"Stress on 'former'" the King said, "Perhaps – after three hundred years – it is finally time for us to bury that hatchet" He looked at the young Gerudo warrior. "Sam, if this was not necessary, I would not ask you for this" The young Gerudo looked down while her king turned back to the six. "It is late and the trip through the desert was strenuous. Please stay for the night. Diaanja and Samura will show you to your rooms"

"Thank you" Link said again. "I promise, we will bring back your children safe and sound"

-oo0oo-

Carefully four pairs of feet crept through the strange jungle. After Fuu had woken up he told them that he was too afraid of 'the bad man' and simply wished for being out of here. He too had no idea where they were. It was definitely not home.

Because of this they were now carefully sneaking through the forest. By now they had found out that the strange 'lice' were not the only things here. And they were in reality herbivores and fled as soon as they became aware of the children.

"What in Nayru's name is that thing?" Kuat asked again.

"Looks like a huge ant… with chicken feet"

"I can see that. What is that thing?"

"Dunno. But it does not look hostile"

The strange insects made clucking sounds, looked lazily up and returned to munching leaves. Quickly the four kids continued forward. Kuat in the front, Fai behind him with little Fuu at her side and Iae took up the rear. They moved through shrubbery as much as it was possible, ignoring the partly stinging pain on their bare feet when they stepped on prickly twigs.

For hours they had walked through the ruins. And luckily they had not yet met anything that was hostile towards them. It was almost paradisiacal here – aside from the strange insects, the green water and the absence of a day and night rhythm. As far as they found out, since there was no sun, there was no night either.

But soon their luck turned.

It began as they crossed another halfway collapsed bridge. On the other side they heard something like the squealing of a pig. And before they had a chance to react, a Moblin-like beast stood behind them.

It was almost seven feet tall, with the head and feet of a pig and the body of a really obese human. Small dark eyes under short stubby horns glared at the kids. And this thing here did not look that friendly.

The crude club in its stubby hand was another tip-off. Fuu cried out when they saw it, but Kuat and Iae faced the beast. The Moblin grunted and wanted to attack them when they suddenly heard another strange sound.

Out of a small grove came something. A huge beast – over ten feet high and almost twenty long - with a dog-like head, bird legs, wicked scythes as arms and a long scorpion tail. It roared at the now visible terrified Moblin and lunged at it.

The kids dove out of the way, shielding the little boy from the sight. But a terrible tearing sound and the agonized scream of the pig told them what happened. The huge dog-headed beast had killed the Moblin and now it began to devour its prey.

Then it noted the kids. Angrily the large predator turned towards them and roared out. No matter how strong Kuat and Iae were, they could not deal with such a foe.

So they did the only reasonable thing: "RUN!"

Kuat snatched up little Fuu and they ran as fast as they could away from the dog-headed terror.

In their panic, however, they did not notice that the beast was not following them. Instead it huffed pleased and turned back to its meal.

The kids were not so lucky. They somehow managed to get out of the frying pan and right into the fire.

Or better yet, into the hornet nest.

Only these hornets were each at least 15 feet long.

And they were obviously hungry.

-oo0oo-

Back in the Gerudo fortress Zelda felt a sudden uneasiness.

Link looked worried to his wife, asking: "What's the matter, Zelda?"

"I don't know" Zelda said and rubbed her arms, "I feel… as if something bad his happening… as if a part of my soul is being torn out of me…"

The hero stepped up to her and embraced his wife. "Don't worry…" he said, trying to be as calming as possible, "Fai is our daughter. She has both our qualities. And she's got Kuat and Iae with her…" Link forced a small smile. "…and you know what those two are capable of"

Zelda tried to smile as well, but found it hard to achieve. The uneasiness was still present. "You are probably right" She sighed out and added: "Also not only our children are lost – all the others are gone as well"

"We'll find them and bring them back safely"

"I hope you're right… I really hope so"


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"BEEEEEEEEEES!" the children yelled appalled when the first gigantic hornet shot towards them, jaws wide open and legs spread out; the sword-sized sting ready to stab them.

Panicked the kids threw themselves into the dirt; the huge hornet swooped over them, narrowly missing its prey. Buzzing enraged it flew a circle and came back at them from behind.

But that was not their only Problem.

In the same moment three other hornets started up to fly against them.

It was highly unlikely that they would miss as well.

"Shield!" Kuat shouted, "Fai! Shield!"

"I can't!" his cousin screamed back, "My magic is blocked here!"

"SHIT!"

Suddenly there was a very loud and terrifying roar. It shook the air and send tremors through the ground. This roar alone was enough to stop the advancing hornets dead in their tracks.

With a nauseating crunch the hornet behind them was hit by something, split vertically over its entire length and landed in two gruesome, still twitching pieces on either side of the huddling children.

Panic-stricken the children looked around – and found the reason for their panic. A huge claymore appeared in their field of view, still dripping with the hornet's blood. Next to that was a pair of two-toed brown scaly feet.

And these feet belonged to a rather humanoid daemon.

"Close ya eyes brats" the daemon ordered them in a gruff, but distinctive female voice. "I'm gonna torch those bastards"

Quickly the adolescents obeyed, pressing themselves against the ground as much as it was possible. The daemon snarled something and they felt the temperature rising quickly. Suddenly there was a massive heat blast rushing over them. They could hear the cracking of fire and the exploding carapace of the huge insects. The heavy sulphuric stench of burning organic matter hung above them.

After what seemed an eternity Kuat could feel a ruggedly prod against his shoulder. "Ya passed out or what?" the female voice asked bugged out, "Okay. If ya want to sleep here, fine by me"

Only now did the young teenager dare to look up. It was the daemon that now stood before them.

A female daemon.

She was huge, much taller than Dad or Grandpa Bo, easily reaching as tall as the Goron Elder Gor Coron. Her arms, beastlike two-toed feet, chest and hips were broad, indicating a lot of muscle mass underneath her brown scaly skin. The daemon was garbed only in a sparse reddish brown body suit decorated with golden ornaments and massive spikes on her shoulders. She also had gauntlets around her arms. Two rather small funny-looking wings – they seemed to derive directly from her ribs – were on her back, fluttering a little in boredom.

But her face was looking almost human. For a daemon she had a pretty appealing face, narrow nose, purple-dyed lips, pointed ears and the most intense green eyes he'd ever seen. If one left the brown scales that covered her otherwise bald head and the massive horns out, the daemon could indeed be counted as a beautiful woman.

Behind her everything was torched black, and there some tongues of flame dancing over the dead hornet swarm. Some flames were also licking her body, but she did not even seem to notice them.

Raising a narrow eyebrow the daemon asked: "Ya gonna gape all day, brat?"

Kuat blushed madly and averted his gaze ashamed. "Sorry…" he mumbled.

The daemon stepped back once, crossing her arms and continued to glare at the children. Iae and Fai somehow managed to lock eyes with her as well. "So I was right" the succubus said bored, "There was someone comin' from the world above. But I am interested. Tell me, how can four elven brats break through the magical barrier of Stone Heaven?"

"S…Stone Heaven?" Fai asked surprised.

"Or Underworld if ya like that one better" the daemon huffed out. Now she stemmed her clawed hands into her hips and growled: "_Demon World_, brat. How can ya Elves come here into Demon World? Ya a tad too young to be a fallen warrior"

"Elves?" Iae asked and sat up, "We ain't elves"

"So? Pointy ears normally scream 'elves'"

"We are Hylians" Fai said, sitting up as well.

At this the daemon reacted like they had not expected at all. She stared dumbfounded.

"What's a Hylian?" she asked.

Taken back Fai stuttered: "Uh… you know, Hylians? The Race loved by the Three Golden Goddesses? From Hyrule?"

"…What's a Hyrule?"

-0-

About ten minutes later the five sat in a circle. Fuu was too scared to let go of Kuat. And the daemon was still a little at loss.

"So, kiddo" she began, "Ya want to tell me, that that little brat over there…" she jabbed her thumb at Fuu who hid behind Kuat, "…is a sorcerer who brought ya all the way from that mysterious Hyrule here to Stone Heaven; without the help of a Teleportation spell or magical circle?" She gave a short, hollow laughter and slapped her knee, exclaiming: "HAH! That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! Not even the poultry is able to do such thing!"

"But it's true!" Fai defended herself, "And now we're stuck here because Fuu doesn't know how to bring us back. And I can't use my magic here"

The daemon glared at the girl leaned forward, sniffing at her hair for a moment. "I see… ya part poultry as well. No wonder your magic does not work" She leaned back and huffed out. Waving her hand she began to explain: "This is Stone Heaven after all; an entire world below the surface world of Ancaria; held alive by a dense net of dark magic" She glared at the children and added: "The magic here is so strong that ya poultry ancestors – the Seraphim – can not use their full extent of power down here"

Then she looked back to the small boy clinging to the older twin's arm: "And this makes me even more confused… A sorcerer has to be extraordinarily powerful to be able to open up a way here…Especially when comin' from a world I never heard of before"

The children fell silent then. "So… there's no possibility to come back home?" Iae asked slowly.

Fai began to sob uncontrolled: "I'm not seeing Mom and Dad… again?"

Now the daemon was positively annoyed. "Stop bawlin' you little brat!" she yelled angrily, shutting her up at once: "Ya are not stuck here!" She scratched her horns irritated, growling: "I have no idea how ya managed to come here, and I don't know how the lot of ya brats can return to this… Hyrule … but ya can't stay in Stone Heaven either." Grumbling the daemon got to her feet. "120 years ago, I would simply have left ya behind to fend for ya'selves… but after meeting one certain poultry, I can't do that anymore. I'll bring ya to Purgatori. There's a portal to Ancaria"

"You… you are going to help us?"

"Do not get me wrong, brat" the daemon spat, "I'll only get ya to Purgatori. In Ancaria ya will have to find someone else that messes around with ya"

"That'll help us a lot" Kuat exclaimed, climbing to his feet despite the extra weight of little Fuu. "Dad and the others often told us about their great adventure with someone from Ancaria! I think the name was… uhhh"

"Mercury or something…" Iae finished.

"…Mercuria?" the daemon asked.

"Yeah! That was her name! Mercuria from Ancaria!"

"Che!"

Now the kids looked surprised and a little worried at the beast-woman. Angrily she turned around, muttering: "That accursed poultry is not even here and she's makin' me watch over children _yet again_!" The daemon began to stomp down the path through the ruins, dragging her huge claymore behind her.

The four kids looked at each other, scrambled to their feet and ran after the creature. Even though they were afraid of her, she was the only one that could get them out of here again.

She was also the only one that could protect them here.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

With the rising temperatures Link found himself grateful for the clothes the Gerudo had given them. They shielded them better against the merciless sun than their old clothes did. Also the height of the dromedaries was beneficial – up here was always a slight breeze going.

Early in the morning, even before the sun came up, the six had hit the road together with their young guides. Samura was leading the group with Diaanja taking up the rear. The large, surprisingly scaly Gerudo looked somewhat bored out of her mind.

The familiarity of her outlooks troubled Link the whole night, and now he could not longer ignore that. Because of this he turned to Shadow who was behind him. "Hey Shad!" he called, "Is Ghirahim there?"

Responding to his question the dark Sword Spirit flipped out of the Redeemer blade to walk next to Link's mount. The King nodded to his double and turned down to the Sword Spirit. "You wanted to speak me?" Ghirahim asked grinning.

"There's something I would like to know, Ghira" he said. "After Mercuria broke your back in Ordona twenty years ago…" The Sword Spirit growled at that rather painful memory, "You were back to your feet a few weeks later. How? Even you in your demon shape would have needed some more time to cure that – except you had some help"

"What are you inquiring?" Ghirahim asked irritated.

"You and your master worked with Ganondorf then, wasn't it? Could it be that you… visited his tribe?"

The Sword Spirit clapped his hands approvingly, but somehow Link still felt as if he was playing with him. "Finally found that out, eh? Yeah, Master Demise and I stayed in the fortress of the Gerudo for over five weeks" He scrunched his nose, "The first two weeks were – put bluntly – terrible thanks to that Seraphim – for me at least" Then his face lightened up. "But the next three were much, much more pleasant… if you know what I mean"

"Let's see" Link replied dryly, "Three men and a whole bunch of women around… Goddesses… I don't even want to imagine that"

"That's not what you wanted to know" the Sword Spirit said annoyed. "So, spit it out"

"Exactly" Link said. Glancing back at the Spirit he said: "Diaanja… she's not a normal Gerudo … is she?"

"Oh, what gave you that tip off? The burning eyes? The black scales? Or her pointed teeth? Or perhaps the black demonic marks around her eyes?"

Link paled notably when the pieces fell together. "Diaanja's…?"

"The biological daughter – the only memento – of my late Master" Ghirahim said, "Yes. Diaanja _is_ indeed Demise's daughter"

The Hylian King stared in utter disbelieve at the Sword Spirit. He could not compute this. "Are… are you sure?" he asked carefully.

"Oh please, she looks like a mini… female variant of my late Master. Plus her aura is quite similar, even though hers is not as impressive and powerful. So, yes, I am sure."

Link took a deep breath. That could be some fun, he thought.

-oo0oo-

Irritated the daemon turned to the kids. "Come on! Ten hours travellin' are not that exhausting!"

"From what world do you come?" Kuat yelled enraged, "Oh, wait, you are a daemon!"

The succubus snarled at them to force them further, but the children simply refused.

They simply could not continue. Iae and Fai fell square to their butts immediately. Kuat put first the again sleeping Fuu down before he glared at the daemon again.

"If ya don't go, ya won't reach Mommy and Daddy" the daemon growled.

"We can't go any further!" Kuat defended himself, "Look. We are thankful that you help us and stuff, but we have not eaten for over a day, and we have not slept properly! We simply are exhausted"

"I'm leavin' ya behind!" she threatened.

Kuat huffed out. "No, you won't" At that the daemon was glaring daggers, but he tried not to show how much he was actually intimidated.

A while the two stood there, glaring at each other, but finally the daemon sighed: "Ah well. Guess I won't get rid of ya that easily" She waved her hand and said: "This is a good place. I'll go and get somethin' to eat, and ya start a fire, ya hear me?"

"You are going to let us rest?" the teenager asked surprised.

"I figure then I won't have to carry ya" she smirked. "Purgatori's still a way away, at least three more days – with your speed" She scratched her horns again, slung her claymore over her shoulder and grumbled: "Damn you poultry… makin' me care about brats…"

She disappeared into the shrubs, looking for something to hunt. Kuat sighed out in relief, pulled his brother and cousin to their feet and together they prepared a camp.

Only half an hour later the daemon resurfaced through the shrubs. She dragged one of the dog-headed beasts after her. The poor thing never stood a chance against her when she cleaved the beast's head with her crude sword.

Of course the children were somewhat disgusted by the dead beast, but the daemon said: "I thought that ya were hungry? Then ya can also eat Glorb Hunters"

Quickly the daemon had a bonfire going – she ignited it with demonic magic - and tore out pieces of the dead monster's flesh with bare hands to hold it over the flames. While she and the children were waiting for the meat to be done, Fai said: "I don't think we were properly introduced yet"

The succubus glared at her. "I'm not gonna keep ya around for long. So I don't need to know your names"

"You can't go on call us brat, either" Fai grumbled. "And whether you like it or not… I'm Fai"

"Kuat"

"Iae. And the little guy's name is Fuu"

The daemon raised her eyebrow, went over the names again and growled: "Fine. You are still brats, though"

"And? What's your name?" Kuat asked, "We can't go on calling you 'daemon' either"

"The name's Onnen" she said after a while of contemplating. "And no. I am not pleased to meet ya. Remember. I'll only doff ya in Purgatori. Then we will never meet again"

"That would help us enough, thank you"

After they ate Glorb Hunter – the meat had the taste and toughness of old shoe leather – the juveniles lay down to sleep. Onnen ensured them that she would not need that much rest, and thus she would take the watch.

"Though I am a little irritated that the lot of ya sleeps durin' the day" she muttered.

"Is it day?" Fai asked confused. "Scratch that. Was it ever night?"

"Oh yeah. Ya over world dwellers have something as fancy as day and night. I forgot that"

"Where do you know Mercuria from?" Kuat asked suddenly. "You seem to be familiar with her?"

"Poultry and I and some other idiots ran around Ancaria some decades ago. Some idiot had summoned a Sakkara demon and that thing ran amok" Onnen snorted and leaned back. "I had been exiled to the Overworld that time. And to get back here and to get revenge on my late employer, I joined her" She chuckled a little. "Were damn good times. Was fun, actually. And damn, that Dark Elf had a real' nice piece of ass…"

She turned back to the kids. All of them had finally slept in, now they were snoring peacefully on the soft forest soil.

Onnen shook her head and grumbled: "Ya, that's right. Saves me the bedtime stories… Would be X-Rated, anyways… now… what was that hot elf's name again? Laurelinad? Hot little thing…Real' tasty"


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Carefully seven heads gazed over a dune. About half a mile away was a looming black castle in the flickering heat of the sandy surroundings.

"There it is" Samura said, "The stench of magic from this place is nauseating"

"There are definitely Poes in there" Vaati said, "Any ideas how we are supposed to get in?"

"I say we break down the front door, march in and floor everything in the way" Diaanja grumbled, smashing her fist into the flat hand.

"That's a bad idea, Shad… I mean Diaanja" Zelda hissed back. "Damn, why do I confuse you with Shadow?"

"And where is he anyways?" Midna added thoughtfully.

Ashei jerked her thumb over her shoulder, stating matter-of-factly: "Over there. Got a bad sunburn"

The other six turned around, seeing Shadow sprawled out in the desert. His Sword Spirit Ghirahim stood over him, casting a shadow and looked somewhat dishevelled. Link huffed out: "Ah damn. I knew his skin would give him some problems sooner or later…"

"I say we follow Diaanja's plan" Samura finally said. "But we should attack when it's dark. Now they will see us coming long before we reach them"

The Twili Queen hissed: "But the children might be in there"

"If they are still alive, they will be so tonight as well" the Gerudo shot back. Then she got up and walked over to where their dromedaries were waiting.

Midna looked after her with an unreadable face. Zelda grumbled: "I'll never understand those Gerudo. They have some strange assumptions"

"I'll set up the tents" Vaati grumbled. "I think I have to get out of the sun as well"

"Good idea" Midna added. "The heat's getting to me"

"I'm surprised you managed this long" Link replied grinning. "Oh look, Vaati had set up the tents already"

"What did you say some years ago? Having a magician makes everything easier?"

Samura stared at Vaati disbelievingly. The sorcerer only needed to flick his wrist and the tent was set up. She blinked as he got over and picked the more or less disabled Shadow up – even though the man was over a head taller than he and almost twice as broad – as if he was a pillow and threw him over his shoulder!

"How do you do that?" Sam cried out.

"I'm the most powerful sorcerer" Vaati grinned. He looked amused at the Gerudo girl and said: "And I can sense some magic in you as well – are you a magician as well?"

"A very good one" Samura explained proudly, "Although I have never made anything like that…"

"One of my easiest tricks. Now, I suppose my beloved wife can get me some water – this guy here looks like a boiled lobster"

Sam shook her head and stared after him. Diaanja stepped up to her. "Sam, do you really think we can trust these guys?"

"Brother… I mean Mishirla… said we should help them"

"We could take those Poes ourselves" the half-demonic Gerudo growled. "You control powerful magic and I can fight Darknuts bare-handed"

"Still. Mishirla know what he's doing" Sam insisted. A little smiling she added: "He's the son of my mother after all"

Soon the group had retreated into the tents to wait until dusk. Then they would attack and fight their way clear. Vaati had created a barrier around them to hide their signatures hidden for now. Due his power level, nothing what would be inside that castle could detect or break through this shield – this was something he was certain of.

Hopefully they would not be too late to save the children.

-oo0oo-

After another straining march through Stone Heaven the children around Onnen finally discovered a palisade wall made from half-rotten wood.

"Finally!" Fai huffed out, "My feet are killing me"

Onnen crossed her arms and said: "I'd have managed by now the whole way to Purgatori. Ya so slow!" Then she looked over the children. Kuat and Iae clutched the old swords in their hands while Fai had little Fuu with her. "Though I am surprised" the daemon continued. "For brats ya don't fight badly"

"Dad taught us" Kuat explained grinning.

"Yeah! He's the best Knight in all of Hyrule!"

Soon the five crossed into the small village. Responding to these parts of the Stone Heaven woods – a forest made up from tree-sized mushrooms rather than trees – the buildings were actually hollowed-out mushrooms.

They could see some of the chicken-footed ants running around, herded by strange grey-skinned humanoids riding on ant-like quadruped huge red creatures with short scorpion tails.

Onnen threw out her arms, exclaiming: "Ah, here we are. Fungi Hillock – the jerkwater town of Stone Heaven!" The words were dripping with sarcasm and disdain.

The strange grey-skinned humanoids came curiously closer. They were about as tall as Link, but very skinny with wide eyes. There had no hair whatsoever, neither the men nor the women. All of them wore the clothes of peasants.

"Yo, Haduk!" Onnen shouted, "Come here!"

One of the creatures called Haduk came over. This male one wore slightly more distinctive dirty brown clothes. "It's honour to meet you, Daemon" he said and bowed slightly, "What brings daemon here in village of Haduk?"

Onnen jerked her thumb at the kids behind her: "Those brats lost their way and I'm stuck with them now. Tonight we will stay here, so give them everythin' they want – oh, and give them some more decent clothes, including shoes. Am I clear so far?"

The Haduk bowed lightly and Onnen stepped around the kids. "I'm gonna grab something to eat. Those Haduks are pretty slow, but unlike most of the stuff down here they won't eat ya"

The small wings on her back suddenly began to flap fiercely, and even though they were much too small to carry the heavy daemon, Onnen could actually take off – ignoring laws of physique while she did.

But then again, Hyrule seems to ignore those laws as well, so they were not very surprised when the daemon disappeared over the palisade walls. Confused and a little lost the children looked after her. But the presence of a Haduk called their attention.

"Oh, strange children" the Haduk said, "Do not fear. I Prutuk, son of Prutuk. I chief of Fungi Hillock. You safe here"

Fai took the lead. These creatures were not hostile in any way, not like the beasts outside. Somehow the fauna had changed from demonic-looking beasts to simple oversized insects. They had seen and fought thirty feet long, cyclopic worms; cart-sized spiders; huge insect larvae with maws large enough to swallow a man whole and the common housefly – in the size of a pony.

But here, in this village, they felt safe for the first time. "I am Fai from Hyrule" Fai explained. "These are my cousins Kuat and Iae, and this is Fuu, the son of our parent's friends"

"You welcome here, children" Prutuk said, "Come, you can rest here. Wife will get you clothing and shoes"

"Shoes would be nice" Iae groaned, "Goddesses, I swear my feet hurt more than I ever thought feet could hurt"

"If we weren't abducted at night, we could have had our own shoes" Kuat added grumbling, "Look at that bro. Fuu doesn't even seem to notice that"

"Perhaps because he always runs around with bare feet? I think I recall auntie Midna doing that too"

"But it's a while ago"

The kids were brought to a small mushroom house in the center of the village. They could stay here for the next few hours. While the three teenagers sat down and took a gulp from a bottle of water – it tasted somewhat like metal – they watched Fuu. The boy had obviously found enough strength to play a little – with a baby chicken-legged ant.

"Leashing Terror" Prutuk said as he came over with a few clothes in his arms, "They lay eggs. Meat tastes good"

"Wait…" Fai began. Pointing to the Leashing Terror baby messing around with Fuu, she asked: "Those things are your chicken?"

"Those are ugly chicken"

Soon after Onnen returned. She noticed that the kids were now already clothed more decent. Kuat and Iae wore black tunics and white underclothes, Fai decided on something similar, only in brown and green tones. And Fuu was still wearing his black and green clothes.

At least they had shoes now – except for Fuu, but he did not care about it.

Onnen grunted at that and let go of the legs of the three dead Moblin-like Glorbs she'd dragged after her. As soon as she did, the Haduk swarmed the dead Glorbs like flies.

"They love that meat" Onnen grumbled as she came over to them, "They're gonna let ya stay for a while now"

"Onnen? Why are you helping us?" Fai asked, "By now we have gleaned that you are not exactly the 'nice' type"

"For a daemon I'm damn nice" Onnen snorted. "But ya right, brat. I was gettin' bored – and my gut tells me somethin's gonna happen with ya around"

"Something?"

"Dunno. Somethin' changed down here ever since ya popped up" She grinned in excitement, her pointed fangs bared. "And this is gonna be a big thing! It makes me shiver in agitation"

Somehow the kids did not like the way Onnen said that. And they would most probably also not like the 'big thing' she was talking about.

-oo0oo-

Far away from their position, deep in the canyons of Hells' Ridge, something was stirring. Another daemon awoke, looking around its surrounding.

Something big was going to happen, this was something any daemon could feel.

A thundering, hollow crack from the far distance attracted its attention.

"So there did you hide all those years… Bellum…" the daemon said. "Intriguing…" Then everything fell silent again as the thundering rumbling stopped for a moment.

The daemon knew it was almost time for it to make its stand again. And when this happened, it would retake its position.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Deep inside his castle the Dark Wizard Daloriel was brooding over some old books and scrolls. Enraged he finally flung the parchments against the wall.

"Why?" he shouted out, blasting a book shelf into oblivion, "Why can't I find this accursed counter for that Stoning Spell?"

He fumed again, but caught himself somehow. Instead he sat back down and looked into a very old, very damaged thin book. 'History of Enemies of Hyrule' the title said. And there he found the only cue for his little problem.

"Hmmm…" he muttered as he went over the yellowed, crumbling pages, "When he arrived in Hyrule he turned everyone in his way into stone… Well, sounds like my little problem down there… And the only way to break the curse…" His eyes widened at what he read: "…was the Four Sword…"

The Bokoblins outside his room jumped again as another enraged yell echoed through their master's door. With a resounding crash the wall was blasted away, killing an unlucky Bokoblin at once. The others ran as fast as they could.

The Depraved panted and glared at the act of destruction. "Curse them!" he yelled, "Of course! The only thing capable of breaking this damn curse is of course a sword only a chosen hero can wield!" He roared out and blasted another unlucky book shelf. "And of course, the only sorcerer that knew the Petrifaction Spell is long since dead or sealed away into said sword!"

The man sat down on his destroyed bed, cursing his bad luck.

However, little did he know that his luck would turn even worse very soon. Outside his castle the sun had vanished.

And without his notice, eight figures crept closer to the looming building.

That was really not Daloriel's day.

-0-

"You know, even if they have not noticed us yet, they will as soon as I blast down the door" Vaati whispered to his companions.

"Then they'll know" Diaanja hissed right back.

"We'd need to speed up a little, but that's beside the point. What are we going to do once we're inside?"

"If the children are in there, they will surely be in the dungeons" Link said, "And whoever stole them will be in the upper floors"

"How can you be sure?" Sam asked confused.

"If you know one palace, you know all of 'em" Link sighed out. "Seriously, they must've had all the same contractor or something…"

"Anyways" his wife interrupted him, "I'd say that we split up. The Goddesses alone know what will await us in there. If the children are in there, they have to be evacuated as quickly as possible – that is why I would like to have Vaati and Midna to go into the dungeons. Midna can teleport great amounts over great distances and Vaati can bring down any shields that should block them. Link and Shadow hold the most powerful weapons, so it would be best if they took care of the lord of this palace"

"Sounds like a plan" Ashei added, "But what will the rest of us do?"

Zelda shrugged her shoulders: "Split up as well? You simply follow one of the groups"

"Okay. Enough sweet talk. Let's floor some people" Shadow growled.

A little amused Midna said: "Look who's talking. I thought you had a bad case of sun burn?"

"I got better, thank you very much" the king's doppelganger grumbled. "Now Master V, let's blow this joint"

-0-

A powerful tremor shook the castle to its fundaments. At once Daloriel was wide-awake.

"What the…?" he growled. "Imp Poe! Come here!"

"Master!" the little ghost wailed as it appeared, "Intruders have attacked your castle!"

"Intruders?"

"They are Hylians, my master, and two Gerudo!"

"How can they break through my shields? Tell me Imp!"

"One of them is a sorcerer!"

"A… a sorcerer?" Daloriel asked baffled, "My shields should have kept any other sorcerer away… except…" His eyes widened and he paled visibly. "Except he is more powerful than me…"

"Master is the most powerful sorcerer!" the Poe squeaked, "None is more powerful"

"You are right… my shields must've been sloppy. I'll tend to this problem right away. Keep the children hidden – I may need them anyways"

The Poe bowed and disappeared through the floor. Daloriel glared darkly into the empty space. "So… you wish to attack me, Daloriel the Depraved? You will be sorry about that…"

-0-

Coughing Link brushed his beard clean again. "Argh! You got carried away again! I said 'Open the door'; and not 'Blast down the whole front'!"

Vaati glared at him and snarled: "I'm sorry that the backfire of the collapsing shield did a thing or two on the castle"

"At least the entrance's clear now" Sam added. "Oh, and he also dispatched of everything on the ground floor"

Midna looked up to the halfway collapsed front of the castle. "And I thought I did some damage some years ago" she said dryly. "But you, Vaati, you top everything"

"Thanks my dear" the sorcerer grinned slyly.

"Let's get over with that" Zelda growled, "I want my daughter back"

The eight nodded and stormed into the castle. Vaati, Midna, Ashei and Zelda ran into the direction of the dungeons – the sorcerer found it really amusing that three beautiful women were now with him – and the other four ran up the stairs. Soon both groups ran into some trouble, though.

Vaati's group came across several Poe spirits, the others faced off with some Darknuts.

The only one that seemed amused by this was Ghirahim. Finally he could slay strong monsters at will.

The others would not enjoy it as much.

-0-

The last Poe went down and dispersed into white haze. Zelda straightened back up and huffed out: "Thanks Mercuria. You helped me a lot"

A little dishevelled Midna asked: "Did you practice in secret over the last few years? I can't remember you using such a powerful Radiant Pillar before"

Zelda grinned a bit: "Yep, I practised a bit. Okay, a lot. It's not as if I had much to do as queen"

Ashei nodded to that. "Having sorcerers with your abilities makes everything easier"

"That's what Link said twenty years ago as well" Midna grinned, "Come on. I think the children are down that hallway"

Quickly they crossed the distance while blasting some more Poes out of the way. Vaati, Midna and Zelda were just keeping another horde off them as Ashei reached the cell – the only one in here anyways.

But the way she stopped and looked appalled into the cell told them, that something was wrong.

"Ashei? What's wrong?" Zelda shouted over the screeching sound of the dieing Poes.

"I… the…" the knightess shook her head, "You have to look at that yourselves!"

Vaati nodded to the two women, taking over the Poes to allow them to go there. But the two of them were just as shocked as the other woman.

Vaati joined them, eventually. Unnerved by their strained silence he had doubled his pace and now there was no Poe left right now.

But as he reached the cell, he, too, stopped and stared in utter disbelieve.

The children were there. All of them. And there was a Darknut as well.

However, nothing was moving. Every single child had been turned into cold, lifeless stone.

The women stared there in shock, not quiet able to compute the situation.

"Well… at least we know that Fuu was indeed here" was all Vaati said to that.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

As silent as they could they sneaked up the staircase. Well, 'silent' was very arguable right about now.

'Waltzing up the stairs' would be more fitting.

Diaanja, Samura and Ghirahim were obviously enjoying themselves thoroughly. Link, Shadow and Fi only had to dispatch of anything that miraculously evaded the onslaught.

"Why do you let your sword fight for you?" Link asked irritated.

"Ghira was bored, so I let him out" Shadow replied dryly. He still wielded the Redeemer, but unlike Fi and the Master Blade, Ghirahim could actually fight while being separated from his blade – a little souvenir he kept from his late master.

"Hey Fi, are we there soon?"

"My analysis shows a great source of magic ahead. Surely the sorcerer commanding the Poes will be there"

"Awww… already?" Diaanja asked a little sad, "But I was having so much fun"

"Yeah, fun…" Link grumbled, "I'd not say 'fun' to fighting five Darknuts at once"

"Not for you wussie, perhaps" Diaanja grinned back.

In a matter of minutes the last Darknut collapsed dead to the floor and they arrived at a massive, richly ornamented door.

"This is it" Shadow huffed out, "The boss is behind that door"

"So, what are we waiting for then?" Samura asked annoyed, "Let's get in there and beat that guy to a pulp!"

With that said, she blasted the door with little to no effort. The group stepped through the swirling dust, entering the halls of this castle's owner.

Neither knew what would await them now, but no matter what, they would fight their way clear.

-0-

"Can… can you change them back?" Ashei asked nervously. Vaati was examining the petrified children for what seemed an eternity, and each passing moment was worse.

But finally the sorcerer stepped back and said: "I can turn them normal again – after all, it was me that invented this spell… however…"

"How could they be turned when you were all the time far away?" Zelda asked.

"I can only suspect that Fuu got his hands in this" Midna pondered, "But he is five, and has not yet learned any larger spells than levitating"

"Could it be…" Vaati began, "…Could it be that he inherited some of our powers?"

Midna sighed out: "Well. I was never sure whether a Picori and a Twili could have offspring together at all … So I think we should not be too surprised when the kid develops some rather out of the ordinary abilities"

A heavy impact shook the whole palace. "Seems as if Link and the others are already in the heck of a fight" Zelda stated.

Ashei coughed when dust rained down on her. "Shouldn't we come to the aid of them?" she asked uncertain.

"I know Link and Shadow long enough" Zelda replied, "They'll be okay. Still… we should make sure they won't do anything stupid" Turning to the two from the Twilight, she asked: "Can you handle this here?"

"Of course"

"Let me know when you find Fai and the twins, okay?" Ashei added. The two wizards nodded and the other two ran out of the prison cell again.

Vaati turned to his wife. "Do you think Fuu could become more powerful… than _me_?"

A little rueful smirk came to her face: "When he's capable of something like this in his tender age, our son has best conditions to put you – the Great Wind Sorcerer Vaati – to shame"

Vaati dropped his head. "There goes my title… relegated to a lower place by my own five-year old son…"

"Stop moping" Midna said, slapping him a little, "Let's take care of these children first"

-oo0oo-

The feeling with which he awoke was deep contentment. He woke up and blinked a little at the dim light of this room. Bright light fell through the door. There was no-one here but himself, but he could hear voices and unfamiliar sounds from the outside.

However, then he became aware of the unfamiliarity of this room.

Everything smelled different and the absence of the slightest breeze made him uncomfortable out of a sudden.

Abruptly Fuu sat up, looking at the small hut with wide eyes. There were three used beds, but they were all unoccupied right now. Then he remembered. He had been away from home for over three days now.

Fuu became incredible sad suddenly. His heart ached at the thought. Would his parents look for him? Would they even want to look for him? He had run away from home after all.

"Daddy and Mommy will be mad at me" Fuu muttered heart-broken. And they did not even know where he was! The scary horned woman said so.

Fuu began to snivel again. Their situation was pretty hopeless and he wished for Daddy again – so he could curl up in his cloak and forget the whole world outside.

Why did his parents leave him so alone like that?

In his despair, the little boy remembered back when his parents were there for him. Fuu had been afraid of the darkness – he only knew of the soft perpetual twilight. His father came to calm him down.

"_You have to be strong when you are afraid"_ he had told him._ "Then you can overcome anything. That's how I managed to become who I am now"_

"_You are never afraid of anything, Daddy!"_ _Fuu exclaimed happily._

_His father smiled a little and said:_ _"Oh, I am afraid of a thousand things. But I never let it bring me down and get through everything. Remember this: Don't let your fears control you. You are the one in control, and you can drive them away"_

"_I'm in control?"_

"_Exactly. And now, get back to sleep. Mommy and me have some work to do"_

Fuu stopped snivelling and wiped his tears away. Daddy was not here right now, only Fuu. And thus he had to stop acting like a small child – he was a big boy already! And the scary horned woman said that he'd see Daddy and Mommy again when they were in that… Pugatori.

Once he would be there, his father would come and pick him up.

"Fuu!" someone called. The nice young girl came in and said: "Rise and shine Fuu. Onnen has a surprise for us. Oh, and we still need to eat breakfast"

"Surprise?"

"Yeah, she said she wanted to help us getting to Purgatori faster – so we can see our parents again!"

Of course, that was not exactly what Onnen had said.

'So I can finally get rid of ya brats' was more like it. But she meant it. Somehow.

Fuu jumped up and followed Fai outside. He would stay strong as Daddy had told him. Then everything would turn out fine again.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

He had not expected them to react this violently. Oh, as soon as they had entered his palace Daloriel was aware of their powers, but that they would be this quick… well, he had not expected them to be.

And now there were six persons entering his most sacred halls. Two Hylians – one was the King, the other his albinistic Doppelganger, two young Gerudo warriors with incredible powers and two ancient spirits.

The sorcerer turned slowly when they entered. He faked a smile and said: "Welcome in my humble abode. I would have prepared an appropriate welcome, if you had announced your comings, your Majesty"

"Stop this Sweet-Talk!" Link barked, "We know that you were the one abducting the children!"

"Indeed I am, your Majesty" The tall man clapped his hands, "Oh, but listen, I am positively uncivil. My name is Daloriel the Depraved… the greatest Sorcerer of this world"

Suddenly there was something he had never before heard after having introduced himself.

Laughter.

Irritated he looked at the pale Doppelganger and his ancient spirit. Both of them were – quite literally – laughing their asses off. The Hylian King looked surprised, and the two Gerudo seemed somewhat baffled. Only the female blue spirit did not show any signs of emotion at all.

"What… what is so funny?" Daloriel yelled enraged.

"Oh look, Master!" Ghirahim snickered, "There's steam coming out of his ears!"

Wrathfully Daloriel created a magical projectile and hurled it against them. Link shouted a warning and the dark spirit reacted by knocking the projectile away and into a wall. The sorcerer was taken back for a moment.

"Funny" Shadow grinned after having calmed down. "I knew the greatest sorcerer was in this building… but he's downstairs, looking for children"

"We found them" another voice came from the door. Two women stepped through the rubble. One was blonde and the Hylian Queen, the other was a black-haired knightess.

"The children have been turned to stone, but Vaati said he could reverse that"

"Vaati?" Daloriel shouted surprised, "_The_ Vaati?"

"Exactly" Link grinned, "Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds. And he's here"

"I thought he was dead… or sealed away" Although he was not trying to show anything, he could feel a small trickle of fear running down his spine. Damn… why was he here?

"I see…" he finally said, "Then I have to change my strategy a little. Originally I had intended not to use that… but when this guy really is here then I have to"

"What are you planning, warlock?" Samura shouted angrily.

Diaanja added: "You can not hope to win against all of us"

Daloriel snickered a little. "I had something great planned, something that would grant me the title of 'Greatest Sorcerer of All Times'…" he spread out his arms, lightening all the torches in the room. Only now did they see the whole extent of Daloriel's study room.

It was huge; a gallery on the far end was filled with stacked book shelves. All the old, worn furniture had been moved against the walls to make place for something.

There was a huge silver pentacle engraved into the floor.

It radiated a powerful magic.

The eight intruders stared at the pentacle. Somehow this feeling was familiar, something six of them had felt two decades ago.

When the terrible Anducar conquered almost all of Hyrule by summoning demons.

"What did you plan, Daloriel?" Link asked, his eyes never leaving the silver circle.

"That does not have to interest you yet" the sorcerer smirked, "Just let me say this: During the test runs I did, something interesting came out…" he teleported away, reappearing on the gallery. "They were very… uncooperative, so I had to seal them away… but I kept them to deal with intruders like you…"

A loud crash from somewhere below the gallery attracted their attention.

Ghirahim and Fi jumped up right away. "Warning! Demonic Life Signs detected" Fi called out, flipping into the Master Blade.

"Demon…?" Ashei asked appalled.

Suddenly they heard deep growling sounds and heavy steps. It came from a dark tunnel between two mighty pillars.

Glowing spots appeared there. And with a terrible roar something jumped out of the darkness.

Link took a step back, noting the others doing that as well. There was a demon in front of them! It had a massive head, strong, clawed limbs but otherwise a skeletal body.

"Shadow Guard!" Ghirahim growled, "I thought they were all killed years ago?"

Much to their disdain this beast was not the only one. Somehow Daloriel had managed to get his hands on a dozen of those creatures. And they were very different to the Darknuts.

"What are those things?" Sam cried out. "Demons?"

"That are Shadow Guard Demons" Ghirahim explained, "They are pretty strong, and are used for defensive purposes… A Shadow Guard is a powerful opponent, so be careful"

The Shadow Guards roared at them and began to run towards them.

"Master V killed many of them when he brought down Anducar's army" Shadow said grinning, "We can take them!"

-0-

The few minutes after Vaati had de-petrified the children they were extremely unsettled, panicked even. But somehow Midna managed to calm them again.

She knelt down to an Ordonian child – the daughter of Mayor Colin – and asked: "Hey my little one… did you see a child with a similar pattern like mine? Or a blonde girl with blue eyes? Or two twin boys with black hair and red eyes?"

"They were here" the girl said, shivering from fear, "All of them"

Vaati huffed out when he heard that, "At least we know where he is…"

Midna looked around: "Where are they then?"

The girl looked around in confusion. "Don't know… they had been here before… that monster came in… but I don't see them anywhere now"

Midna and Vaati locked their eyes in worry. So the four children were not here anymore. "Vaati, can you go to Link and the others and find out where they are? I'll watch over the kids here"

"Will do" Vaati said. With incredible speed he rushed out of the room, his cloak and hair fluttered wildly as he dashed down the hallway.

Midna turned back to the children. "I will get you out of here" she said, "It'll be a tad uncomfortable, but you will be back home in no time"

The children nodded uncertain, but crowded around the tall woman. And in a flurry of black spots, they disappeared all together.

-0-

Back in Hyrule a soldier was pacing up and down the palace garden. They had still no clue about the whereabouts of the missing children – heck, even his own had vanished – and the King, his wife and some others had left almost five days ago on a wild goose chase.

Something was off out of a sudden and the man jumped when a whole batch of black spots appeared in the otherwise calm night. His heart made a huge skip when the spots turned out to be the missing children – and they were in company of the tall exotic queen of Twilight. The soldier cried out as his kids came running and hugged his midsection crying.

Midna came to him: "Soldier, the children have been returned. Can you take care that they come back home safely?"

The soldier nodded: "I can initiate that…" Wiping some tears out of his eyes he added sniffing: "Thank you… thank you very much"

"It's okay" Midna said soothing, "I'm glad that they are unhurt. A little confused, but unhurt" She turned to the few Gerudo girls that stood a little aside. "I have to bring them home as well… and then I have to find my own son"

"Is he still vanished?" the soldier asked surprised. "Is he not with the others?"

"Neither my son, nor the princess of Hyrule" Midna said, combing through her fiery hair.

"I'll pray to the Goddesses that you find them"

"Thank you" the Twili said. "Please take care of them"

She went back to the Gerudo children and took them with her again. The soldier and the children looked where she was. "Uhmm… okay…" the soldier said, looking over the traumatized children, "You must be hungry, I think… Let's look if the kitchen is still open"


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Onnen and the children made good progress. It turned out that the 'surprise' Onnen had, was actually one of the huge red quadruped ant-like beasts with a scorpion-like tail. 'Blooded Terror' the daemon had called it.

The creature was large enough to allow all four children to ride it comfortable. And this made it much easier to travel. Their mount did not tire that easily and could follow the female daemon even as she was moving at high speed.

Onnen jumped effortlessly over a big fallen mushroom and killed two Mire Worms while at it. The Blooded Terror followed her quickly.

"That's much better, don't ya think?" Onnen shouted, obviously delighted. "At this rate ya in Purgatori by tonight"

"Is there night anyways?" Kuat shouted back.

"Hey Onnen?" Fai began, "Do you think we can keep this beast? It's much faster than a horse – and intimidating to boot"

The daemon shrugged her shoulders, kicked a huge housefly away and said: "If ya want. But I won't explain it to ya parents"

"What will we do once we reached Purgatori?" Iae asked uncertain.

"I'm gonna dump ya and then I'm on my way again" the daemon said matter-of-factly.

"But… but you can't go!" Fai threw in, "We don't know anyone here, and we don't know where to go!"

Onnen threw them a side glance, growling: "What ya want and what not, is not of interest. All ya need to do is travelin' to the Dryad forest via the portal. From there ya can find ya own way"

The daemon jumped over another mushroom and the talk was over. But the kids did not like to be on their own in a world they did not know and without knowing anyone. Who knew if the Dryad forest was a safe place?

-oo0oo-

Absolutely unsafe was Daloriel's study room right now. And the reason for that were the Shadow Guards. Even though they were separated from their world, weakened and confused, they still proved much of a challenge.

"Ah damn!" Link cursed, "I got a little rusty"

"Warning. Demonic life sign closing in rapidly" Fi warned. The Hylian King whirled around and brought the Master Blade down, fending off the obviously angry demon. In that moment an orange-glowing Skyward Strike came in and smashed the beast away from Link. He nodded thanks to his Doppelganger and went to finish the beast.

Zelda and Ashei fought back to back, with Zelda sending out powerful Seraphim magic against the beasts. Her attacks were most efficient against the demons.

On the other hand, brute force seemed to work well, too. Diaanja proved that.

Her own demonic ancestry granted her truly incredible power. Her swords sliced through the hard shell of the beasts like through hot butter. And when she was fighting, she built up a certain glee in killing stuff.

Curse it to the demon blood in her veins.

Two demons were about to jump at Ashei when they were violently blasted away and knocked into a wall. One of them died immediately, the other managed to get back to its feet. Vaati had arrived. He began to dispatch of the demons at once, supporting the others greatly.

When Daloriel became aware of his presence, he became frightened. "So he truly is alive… this is bad" the sorcerer muttered, "I had originally hoped I would not have to open the demon portal again before…" Suddenly he widened his eyes and teleported away shortly before Samura crushed into the floor before him.

"What? How dare you!" he shrieked.

Sam pulled her hand free of the rubble and glared at Daloriel. "You seem startled"

"Are… are you a sorceress?" the warlock hissed, "Nobody can sneak on me like that"

"You are right" Sam smirked, "I truly am a sorceress… not just any sorceress, though" She lifted her right hand and showed it off. A Golden glowing triangle shape appeared on the back of her hand. Daloriel became shocked once again, since there were now all three Triforce bearers here.

"I am Samura!" she called, "Sister of the Gerudo King Mishirla, bearer of the Triforce of Power! I am Ganondorf Dragmire's daughter and his only heir!" Then she attacked the obviously scared sorcerer.

-0-

The fight was drawing to an end. Link brought his sword down and impaled the last remaining Shadow Guard. With a terrible outcry and some trashing the beast went down and died.

Link wiped some sweat from his face, replaced his golden crown and huffed out: "So, that's it. How's everyone doing?"

"We're okay" Shadow threw in. "When Master V came in, the demons were pretty much defeated already"

"Good, then there's only one left…" Ashei said and turned over. But Daloriel was already on the verge of being defeated as well. Another massive energy blast from Sam threw him clear through the fence and hurled him onto the ground. Before he could scramble back to his feet he was surrounded by four warriors, three powerful sorcerers and two ancient Sword Spirits.

Very quickly he found himself at the end of the Master Blade. The Hylian King and Hero glared down at him, wrath gleamed in his blue eyes. "You have been defeated, wizard" he snarled, "Now, tell us what you kidnapped the children for – and no tricks!"

Daloriel – seeing that he had no other choice – huffed out and hissed: "I do not have much choice in that matter – I may be powerful, but I am not stupid. Seeing that you have legendary weapons _and_ legendary warlocks with you, I have to admit defeat"

"Stop babbling" Shadow growled from behind him, "and tell us what we want to know"

The beaten sorcerer sat up, crossed his legs and began to tell: "Since I, Daloriel, emanated from the condition that two certain powerful sorcerers were long since dead or bound in the Sacred Realm…" he glared at Vaati and Samura when he said that, "…I saw my chance to gain the title 'Greatest Sorcerer'. However, I did not only want to be put on par with you, I wanted to _best_ you… but since I neither had access to this fabulous Magic Cap nor the Triforce, I had to find another way… and I found it" A feral grin came to his face. "I found it twenty years ago when I saw this Anducar guy overtaking Hyrule as if it was the easiest thing! I analysed his powers and came to one conclusion: It was the combination of Demon and Sorcerer which gave him his incredible might… just like it was with you, _Lord_ Vaati"

Link blinked at that and turned to Vaati: "What does he mean?"

Vaati growled at Daloriel for revealing the secret of his power. But he explained it to the others nonetheless. "The source of my might, Link. He means the source of my powers. It was not the Wishing Cap I stole from my master long ago – at least not directly. When I took that cap and wished to be the most powerful sorcerer, it acted by creating a demonic entity inside me. You could say my bad half" He pinched the bridge of his nose in anger and continued: "There was a _demon_ born in me; created through my desires, hate and emotions. This beast forced me do what I did in the past, and drunken from the powers I gained, I allowed it to happen. Although it was powerful - a being that was in no way inferior to Anducar - it could not win against the sacred Four Sword and we both were sealed away. By now I have managed to control it. I can use its powers without allowing it to take advantage of me again. And even though I do look like the demon when I transform I am not truly a full-blooded demon"

"And this is what I wish to become" Daloriel said smirking. "You were too afraid of becoming a true demon like Anducar did"

"Because I knew I would not be able to control myself then – you saw it happening to Anducar – he ran rampant!"

"I can control it!" Daloriel shouted, "And thus I searched far and wide to find the most powerful demon with whom I could become one – and I found it" His smirk returned, and he pulled the corners of his mouth as far back as possible. "A demon with incredible powers _and_ less intelligence…"

"The more intelligence the demon has the more difficult it is to cooperate with it" Vaati explained, "Mine is pretty adroit if I may say that"

"…And this demon's name… is Bellum" Daloriel began to chuckle and raised back to his feet, despite the immediate threat he was in. "There was a slight problem, though. Even though I could pinpoint the demon's location and create this beautiful portal, all I got were the Shadow Guards you have slain. I found out the reason why, though. It was imprisoned by something. Only a powerful sorcerer can break the seal, and only when he is directly in front of it" His grin faded and he grumbled: "Since there is no way in hell – if you excuse the choice of my words – I would voluntarily go down there and release the demon – it would be a hundred times more powerful and far more difficult to be controlled – I had to find another way… and as the genius I am, I also found a solution for that" The smirk came back and he carried on: "And this is where your children came into play…" Daloriel chuckled darkly and said: "I needed to harvest their pure, innocent souls in order to break the seal and lure the demon right here where I wanted it to be… But four of those accursed curs somehow managed to turn all the children into stone – they were useless for me then!"

"Hey!" Vaati shouted, "One of that 'curs' was my son!"

"So?" Daloriel asked uninterested, "At least that explains how that brat managed to petrify all the other sacrifices"

"Where are our children?" Link roared at him, grabbing Daloriel by his collar. "Where are they?"

"Ah, so the other three brats who managed to escape were yours? No wonder they managed to" Daloriel snickered. "But they are not with the other kids, not anymore… To put it bluntly, I have no idea where they are. They somehow managed to teleport away… and out of _this_ world"

"Out… of this world?" Zelda asked appalled, "How? And where to? Speak, wizard!"

"Like I said… I have no idea… but that should not interest you any longer, queen" Daloriel began to laugh insanely as everything around them began to quake. "Because I opened the portal into the demon world! Soon this place will be crawling with demons unlike you had ever seen before!"

When those words left his lips, the massive pentacle began to glow blue and a spiralling vortex of dark magic opened up. Oppressive demonic energies wafted out of it, making them really uncomfortable. And the tremors became stronger with each passing moments, sending them stumbling.

"What do you think will happen next?" Daloriel laughed at the top of his lungs and disappeared from their midst in a moment of carelessness. "Let's welcome Chaos!"


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Awestruck the children stopped their massive mount. In front of them was a huge wall made from smooth, greenish grey rocks. Its fundaments were jagged, impassable rocks. A massive gateway opened up in front of them. Huge skulls of beasts unlike anything they had ever seen decorated the walls and gates.

"I'm still at loss how the Haduk managed to kill that many Sakkara Demons" Onnen said from next to them. The daemon crossed her arms and said: "This is where we separate, brats. That's…" she waved at the huge gate, "… is Purgatori. The portal is right through that gate and then left"

The four children looked at the huge gates with uncertainty, then back to Onnen and back to the gate.

"You are leaving us already, Onnen?" Fai asked sadly, "But… we don't know what to do without you"

Onnen huffed out. "I already told ya, go through the portal and bother the tree huggers to help ya"

"But… we don't know them. Who knows if they help us?"

The succubus stopped and thought for a moment. "Well… that could be true. The damn tree huggers are pretty much abrasive when it comes to strangers"

"Can't you come with us?" Iae asked.

Onnen snorted. "That would be a bad idea. The tree huggers don't like me pretty much – that may have somethin' to do with me cripplin' their queen. Oh, and leadin' the thousand-year siege against them, of course"

"…siege?"

"Ah, ya don't know. Well, I worked for Anducar for over one thousand years after all" She scrunched her nose and growled: "And then – from one day to the other – he dumps me to the Overworld – just like that! And that without compensation pay… oh wait… he never paid me to begin with…"

At first the children were shocked, but they knew that Onnen was the only one able to help them. No matter what she did in the past or not. "Onnen… you can't leave us…"

"I can and I will" the daemon said. She turned on her heel and began to move away, but something held her back. An unfamiliar – albeit meagre – weight on her legs.

Annoyed Onnen glared down on the pale hair of little Fuu. "Let go ya brat" she snarled. But Fuu did not budge. For a five-year old he was impressively brave to dare to invade the daemon's personal space.

They had seen what Onnen was capable of.

But before she managed to pluck the child off her legs, Kuat and Iae threw themselves on her shoulders. Enraged Onnen began to curse at the 'brats'.

"Onnen" Fai began and stepped in front of the daemon, "What you say is not suited for children – or some adults in that case" She smirked at the green-eyed daemon with a smirk she'd seen on her face more than once: "Face it Onnen. Without killing us you won't get rid of us… but then you would be in deep shit"

Onnen blinked at the children. "… ya brats try to blackmail me?"

"Exactly" Kuat grinned.

The daemon glared at the children. But then a feral smirk came back to her purple lips. "To say the truth, I am frankly impressed with ya obstinacy, brats. To be honest, I never met anyone that acted like ya before meetin' that poultry"

"So you are going to stay?" Iae asked.

"Ya don't give me much choice in that matter, brats" Onnen sneered. Jerking her thumb into the direction of the massive gate, she said, "I've got a place to stay in there. Ya can stay there until ya parents come to pick ya up" The kids began to beam broadly at her but Onnen stopped them: "Not a second longer, ya understand?"

"Yes!"

"Good" Onnen could now finally pluck off Fuu from her legs. This could be some fun, she thought dryly.

-oo0oo-

Link swayed once as the tremors finally subsided. The portal was open and now also stabilized.

But it was not over yet.

It had just begun.

Because with a terrible, unearthly roar another Shadow Guard jumped out of the portal. It froze for a moment, realigned itself and attacked the mortals.

"Shit!" Zelda cursed and sent a Baneful Smite against the beast, knocking it backwards, "Daloriel! What is the meaning of this?"

The wizard – who was far away from the raging beast and in safety – grinned. "As long as this portal is open, the demons are drawn to it like moths to light. It is their nature to cross through"

As if reacting to their unexpressed fears three more Shadow Guards came into play when the first one died. And after them came some more beasts. Huge monkey-like beasts with huge claws (Frazzler), walking brains with tentacles (Cerebropod), some flying demons and of course an amount of Bolting Terrors.

Like jesters from a carriage the beasts streamed out of the portal. Despite their fighting strength, the legendary weapons and magical power, they could not stop this flood of hellish beings.

"Sam! Any ideas?" Shadow cried desperate.

"I don't know!" the Gerudo replied, shouting as well.

"Come on! You are the heir of Ganondorf!"

"We have to seal the portal again!" Zelda cried, "Vaati seems to have some problems!"

"What?"

Link looked over. Vaati was kneeling and clutching his head, as if trying to cancel out a bad migraine. Ashei was next to him while the rest tried to hold off the demons.

"Ashei! What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know!" the knightess called panicked, "But he became like this when the portal opened!" She turned down, shook his shoulder and called: "Vaati! Can you hear me? What's the matter?"

"Ngh… my demon…" Vaati groaned, "It's trying to… take over"

"What? I thought you had it under control?"

"I thought… so too… something's giving the beast power…!" He collapsed down and was reduced to a pile of black clothes and pale hair. Black haze started to swirl around him, enshrouding his quivering body. "Can't stop it! Get aw**ay!"**

That last word was roared, not unlike the other demon's roars. Ashei jumped back when the sorcerer's lean frame was entirely obscured by blackness. Daloriel leaned forward with big eyes, watching with interest what was happening down there.

"Uh-oh… Vaati loses his wits – Take cover!"

And cover was what they would really need. In this moment a terrible roar, more deafening and frightening than anything before, echoed through the chamber. The demons stopped their advance at once and stared growling over there.

"Here he comes…" Link muttered.

Vaati had transformed into his terrible demon shape. A colossal black blob sat now there instead of the lean man. Several black bat wings jutted out around the orb as he began to float two feet in the air. Golden horns and golden decorations framed a huge red and golden eye; it stared at the demons and mortals with a sickly gleam. Two arms made of shadows and ending in three sprawling golden talons appeared on either side.

Vaati's Wrath…

The demon opened up his maws directly underneath the immense eye, baring rows upon rows of dagger-like teeth.

Then he attacked.

But he did not attack Link and the others, no. His demon side had taken over, forcing the transformed sorcerer to fight the other demons. With a nauseating crack the huge demon crushed into the others, killing two Frazzlers instantly by breaking their necks.

"Where did I see that before?" Ghirahim mused from where he stood. "Oh right, when he fought against Anducar's armies… but he had himself in better control then"

"It's the portal" Samura gasped, "There's magic flowing through it, enforcing the demon inside the sorcerer, and allowing it to take over – Diaanja's acting up, too"

"And another super-powered demon is the last thing we can need" Zelda closed, "We have to close this portal before it's too late!"

"Good, any ideas, hon?"

"Samura and I can close it again through magic… if only Midna was here…"

"Did you call?" a soft voice spoke up. Like an evil spirit Midna rose from a shadow. She looked over where her husband's demon shape was rampaging. "I won't ask what happened to him, not yet" she closed, "Zelda, we have to start now!"

"Thank you" the Hylian Queen nodded. "Link, Shadow, Ashei! Keep us covered!"

"Not so fast, my dear" Daloriel fumed as he appeared in front of them. "I won't let this chance escape me to finally rid the world of the lot of you… Die!"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Something inside her had shifted, something had changed. Diaanja could feel it.

An insatiable hunger for battle had awoken in her. The stench of all the demons here made her shiver in agitation. Especially the powers radiating from the huge disembodied eye – the very demon that had been the purple sorcerer only a few moments ago – excited her.

Quivering she forced herself to stay where she was and watched the fight before her unfold. The black eye demon was truly a fearsome foe, killing any other demon within its reach with little to no effort.

Diaanja narrowed her eyes. Ever since she had found out what exactly she was, she had pored over any information she could get on the subject. And what she found out was not really encouraging.

One ancient scroll said that demons fought each other heatedly to establish a hierarchy amongst them. The strongest demons would constantly fight in order to best each other.

Diaanja growled quietly. She knew that when the eye was finished with the lesser demons he would continue with her.

Suddenly a huge Frazzler attacked her. Diaanja dodged the huge claws and smashed her fist into the beasts' chest. She was surprised how strong she was right now, since she could easily break through the thick bones and actually crush the things' heart with her bare hand.

The Frazzler screeched hoarsely and collapsed as Diaanja pulled her now bloody hand out of the massive corpse. The smell of blood began to cloud her mind and she found herself actually wanting to spill more of the liquid.

Her demonic thirst for blood began to take over, and once again she cursed her demonic sire. But right now, it did nothing to stop her.

A malicious grin came to her face as she began to move towards the raging fight, slowly at first, but then she ran. With a tremendous punch she snapped a Shadow Guard's neck and turned then against the other beasts.

"That's right" Diaanja snarled, "The fat blob is not the only challenge here"

-0-

Link blocked another volley of magical discharges with his shield. "Shadow!" he yelled, "I'm stuck here!"

"Well, I'm too!" his doppelganger yelled. He too was covering behind his shield, unable to deploy the Redeemer's power. Zelda, Midna and Samura were sadly stuck as well; they had to close the portal somehow. And as long as the wizard was diverted by Link and Shadow and the demons fought against each other, Vaati and Diaanja they had a chance to do so.

Suddenly Daloriel stopped attacking and yelled out. Ashei had hit him with an arrow right in the leg. "Now, dear!" she yelled to her husband. Shadow reacted at once, and attacked the sorcerer with the Redeemer.

Daloriel caught himself and he created a shield, but under the Redeemer's powerful blows it soon shattered like glass.

In that moment Link came jumping from behind. Daloriel could only teleport away to escape this certainly fatal attack. Then he started to fire at the three – who were now close to each other - again.

"Damn it!" Shadow shouted, "As long as this guy keeps on doing stuff like that, we will never get to him!"

"What should we do?"

"Don't know, but we have to act fast" Ashei exclaimed, "Vaati and Diaanja will soon be done with the other demons – perhaps they'd turn on us then"

"As far as I know such sorcerers…" Link began, "…he'll soon be tired. Then we can attack"

While the situation over there was everything but good, Zelda, Midna and Sam were sifting through the hapless pile of books and scrolls.

"Damn!" Sam cursed, "There has to be a spell to close that thing again!"

"Quick! The demons have stopped pouring from the portal for now, and soon the others here will be dead as well!"

A huge dead Cerebropod crushed where they were, only thanks to Sam's quick reaction nobody was squished. She utilized her Triforce piece's power and knocked the dead beast cleanly back where it ended as a nauseating splash on the wall.

"Eww!" she yelled, "I touched it!"

"Sam!" Zelda called out, "You are standing on the solution!"

"Eh… what?"

"Lift your foot!" Samura obeyed and Zelda pulled out an old, weathered and partly burnt scroll. "Demon portal! Hah!" she shouted, "Here's how the thing works!"

"Good! Can we close it then again?"

"The ritual to be performed does not look so difficult" Zelda said after a while of reading, "We can do it"

"We have to begin, now!" Midna yelled, "Vaati and Diaanja have begun to turn against _each other_!"

"What? Why?"

"I read about demons…" Sam began slowly, "And it is said that the most powerful demons will fight constantly to show who's the stronger – but these fights can carry on for days and ends mostly fatal for one of the fighters"

A resounding crash shook the whole building. "And before that, they will tear down this whole place!"

"What are we waiting for?" Zelda growled, "Ladies, let's close this portal"

-0-

The room shook again and great parts of the ceiling collapsed as Daloriel cursed again. He had lost his footing for a moment and was now attacked by the Hylian King and his trusty knight.

His gaze fell on the portal for a moment. It had dangerously destabilized and it shrunk with tremendous speed. The huge black demon and the half-demonic Gerudo were only fighting half-heartedly now since most of the portal's powers had waned, allowing the two to suppress their demon side again.

Suddenly the black-armoured pale knight was there again, bringing down his massive black blade. The Redeemer crushed the wizard's shields as if it was glass, sending the warlock stumbling. Daloriel hit the ground with a pained grunt. And before he could come up again, the king and his knights had him surrounded, pointing their swords at him.

"Close the portal _now_" Link hissed. It was a direct command from a king, and Daloriel could do nothing but comply. Threatened by the swords he got slowly up and began to summon his magic again. Link nodded to Midna and she turned to Vaati and Diaanja, using her magic now to keep both from hurting themselves or the others.

The portal reared up once again before beginning to shrink and disperse. Daloriel felt a pang in his chest as he watched his lifework being reduced to nothing. He would never be the most powerful sorcerer.

He slapped himself mentally. No! He would not give up! He had to find a way to take his revenge.

But there was only one way that came to his mind. And he did not like it.

He had to, though.

And so, before his captors could react, he teleported a last time and escaped through the magic gate and into the demon realm. They could not stop or retrieve him.

With a purple flash the gate was closed again, leaving only the silver pentagram and a destroyed study room behind.

"He got away" Link growled.

"At least the portal has been closed again" Shadow threw in. "He won't be able to get out of the demon world, Link"

"That is incorrect" Fi spoke up. The blue spirit flipped out of the Master Blade and stated: "The portal to the demon world has only closed on this side. It is still open on the other"

"That… does not sound… good, I think"

"Correct" Ghirahim threw in. He too appeared next to Shadow, crossed his arms and smirked. "Since the portal is still open, it is absolutely possible for a more powerful demon to cross through. And if that happens, what do you think will happen here? Demon ville!"

Zelda, who came just over, paled notable: "Should that mean…"

"If the portal is not closed, the demons will sooner or later swarm this place" the Sword Spirit closed. He jerked his thumb to where Vaati fought himself back to his feet. Exhausted from the battle against the other hellish being and his own demons he did not managed to, however. "And if that happens, their demons will come out more frequently in order to answer their kind's challenges"

"Damn it" Link huffed out and sat down on a slab of rock. "What can we do, Zelda?"

His wife stared at the silver lines thoughtfully. "The only thing I can think of is to consult an expert on the case… we have to go to _her_ and ask her to help us once again"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Mercuria"

"Exactly" The queen turned to Samura who supported a pretty beat Diaanja. "We'll bring you back to the Gerudo fortress, then we'll…"

"I hope you are including us as well" Sam growled, "Because our prey has escaped. It is a Gerudos' pride to track and bring down any prey!"

A little surprised Ashei asked: "You want to accompany us?"

"Our pride tells us to" Sam explained proudly. "We'll come with you, whether you like it or not. It's an honour to fight alongside you"

"And we still have to find our own children" Midna threw in from her corner. "Mercuria can surely help us with that as well"

"First you should rest, though" Link threw in, "And we too. Sam, would Mishirla allow us to stay another day at his place?"

"Since you brought back my cute little nieces, I don't see why he shouldn't"

The group had decided. After they would rest and prepare for another adventure, they would return to Hyrule. The magical portal installed by the Seraphim a few decades earlier would bring them to Ancaria without delay. There they would look for Mercuria and ask her to help them. First they needed to close the demon gate and second… they had to find their children again.

Even though nobody said anything when they slowly left the study room they prayed silently, hoping that they would not be too late.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Purgatori was a sprawling city, comparable only with the largest cities in their world. It was separated into three pieces by a mighty greenish stream and one equally large branch. As it turned out Onnens' place was actually a large house on a mighty bridge. It was the only house on the bridge, so it must've meant something.

The four children were in a small chamber high above the greenish flood of the river. Even though it was still very bright outside they were very tired and Onnen sent them here to bed.

While children made themselves comfortable, Fai asked: "Do you think our parents will find us here?"

"Fai! We have to trust them" Iae threw in, "It's the only thing we can do"

"Uncle has found us everywhere up to now" Kuat added, smiling reassuring. "He's the hero after all!"

"Hero, eh?" Onnen suddenly spoke up. The kids turned to where the daemon entered the room, blankets in her arm. "Damn Haduk took the blankets" she growled and threw them over the child closest to her. Poor Fuu disappeared under a massive pile of heavy wool blankets and it took him several minutes to dig himself out again.

"Why do the Haduk listen to you?" Iae asked curious.

"Ah, because I'm the Queen of Stone Heaven ever since we kicked Anducar's ass" she replied grinning. "So the Haduk are my underlings"

"Father told about a menace called Anducar he fought years ago" Fai said thoughtfully, "Could it be the same Anducar you fought?"

"Could be" Onnen answered, shrugging her shoulders, "Bastard's had more lives than a damned cockroach" A toothy grin came to her face as she continued: "But man, we did kick his ass hard"

"Can you tell us about that?" Kuat asked out of a sudden.

The daemon glared at him again. "Ya want to hear a bedtime story?"

"Yeaaah!"

"No, not goin' to tell – ain't suited for brats anyways"

"Aww… please? Pretty please?"

As much as Onnen liked to see someone suffer, she sighed out and growled: "If I tell, ya go to sleep right away and don't bother me with that again, understood?"

The kids sat up and looked at Onnen full of expectation.

Onnen pulled a chair to her and sat down on it the wrong way. After a long huff she began: "Several years ago – shortly after Anducar kicked me out of Stone Heaven – I met up with poultry and a gang of freaks. Ya could say we played Hero for a while. That gang consisted of me, poultry, a hippie-terrorist wood elf, a chicken mage, a brute warrior, a thick-headed vertically-challenged kickass dwarf, an undead knightess and that hot dark elf with a real' nice piece of ass…" She waved her hand around and broke off. "Anyways. The lot of us travelled around the Overworld for some months – was pretty fun, we slaughtered dragons and hordes of undead and orcs. But after we brought down that evil guy and his summoned Sakkara Demon, I went back here. And what should I say? Half a year later poultry and her gang of freaks were back. They dragged me off to another hero spree. It ended with us kickin' Anducar's ass. Ever since I'm the one that has to say what's goin' on down here"

"…Wow" was all Kuat said to that. "Must've been great to help all those people…"

"HAH! Help!" Onnen laughed. She leaned back dangerously far and laughed for a whole minute before she managed to catch herself. "I didn't help anyone, brat. I was the one who did most of the slaughterin'. But it was kind of fun. I was gettin' bored here anyways. And when I travelled with them, I had everythin'. Fun and amusement without end, someone I could put the wind up and of course that hot little thing of Drow…" Onnen began to chuckle about something. She drifted off and went out again, still chuckling about something – this had something to do with the 'hot little Drow' and was certainly not G-Rated. So it was better that she went away.

The children looked after her. But they had their bedtime story and were tired. One after another went to sleep.

Everything would be better tomorrow. At least they hoped it would.

They hoped that their parents would come and pick them up again. No matter how safe it was here with the daemon, it still did not feel like home.

-oo0oo-

It was also a calm night in the Gerudo desert. After having dined with King Mishirla the group had lost itself in the spacious building of the fortress. Even though most of them were still afraid for their children, they had to try and concentrate on what was still before them. Tomorrow Vaati and Midna would bring the group to Hyrule. From there they would travel through the portal to Ancaria and look for Mercuria.

Once they had found her - and they were sure about that – their problems would solve themselves.

Since his master and pretty much everyone else was in their guest rooms in tense expectation, Ghirahim was wandering through the halls all by himself. He knew these rooms very well; he had been here for over five weeks after all.

It was somewhat strange to walk here again. Last time he was here, he was with his Master Demise…

Ghirahim sighed. Even after two decades he still missed his old master. Perhaps he had been too depended on him when he was still his servant.

Two middle-aged healers came around a corner. They stopped at the sight of the dark-skinned steel Sword Spirit, but recovered quickly. Both bowed a little and wanted to hurry along, however, Ghirahim held them back.

"Ah, I already wondered how you two fared" he said smirking.

They stopped and looked at him. "…Do we know you, Spirit?"

"Oh, I would be positively surprised if you didn't" he answered, still smirking, "Though the last time you saw me I was slightly paler and had a different hair cut…"

One could almost see the cogs beginning to work in the healer's heads. Finally the first one asked: "Lord… Ghirahim?"

"Exactly. Although only Ghirahim is fine – I lost that status a long time ago. Now I'm only the Sword Spirit of the Redeemer Blade – which is wielded by the royal knight Shadow"

"How's your back?" the second asked smirking. "I do recall you were pretty much snivelling back then"

"Oh please. You ladies literally tore open my back and put some brute metal in there! Everyone would be snivelling!" He crossed his arms in front of the orange glowing gem in his chest. "But since I lost my human shape as well, I can't really say how my back is right now. This shape is not really… sensitive"

"Okay" the first healer said. "If you break your back again, we'll put you back together"

With that said the two started down the hallway. But this time they were accompanied by the heavy metal steps of the Spirit. One of them turned around and asked: "Is there a reason why you accompany us?"

"I'm bored" was the simple answer, "And… and I am curious. I have seen what that one girl – Diaanja – is capable of. I wonder why there's not more of her kind here. That would make dealing with the Dune Raiders much easier"

"Why are you so interested in the girl?" the healer inquired.

"Well, she is indeed my late Master's daughter. Being around her makes me … well, how to put it… positively giddy!"

The healer sighed out. "The answer is easy, though. We do not have more of Diaanja's kind because she is the only one"

Her comrade carried on: "I suppose the demon blood was too strong. The children sired by your late Master were either miscarried, stillborn or did not survive the first month. Diaanja is the only one that survived…"

"She's… the only memento… of my Master then?"

He did not know why, but this thought made him sad.

In silence he separated from the two healers again.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The sun stood high on the horizon. Not a single cloud obscured the blue sky.

Braverock Castle appeared at its best when eight persons came through the portal. The city had been built in the flank of a branch of the huge Icecreek Massive. They could see five rings build in the steep mountain side. Between the fifth and fourth ring – there lived the normal peasants and citizens – was a huge wall made from granite rocks. Link noted that they were right now on the third ring – the area where the wealthy people lived. A massive white temple was right in front of them; its polished white walls shone brightly in the sun. Above them was the small ring for the military and above that they could see another, even larger and weathered wall.

And this was where they wanted to go.

The citizens – humans with round ears – were not at all surprised about their coming. They did attract some attention, but soon the humans went their way again, not caring about the Hylian group.

"Wow" Zelda muttered, "And here I thought they would react differently to someone like us"

After having walked a while they noted some patches of snow lying around everywhere. The temperatures were so low here that there was snow all year round.

Soon they found themselves in front of a huge wooden gate. Two soldiers stood there. When they discovered the newcomers they came over.

"Hail, Amon-Shi" they said, "What brings you to the castle Muragh-Nar?"

Zelda, ever the queen she was, answered: "We seek aid of your queen. Can you let us through?"

"Well, the time is pretty badly chosen" one of the guards said and scratched his head, "The Baroness Safiria from Crowsrock Castle is here, as well as the royal pair of the Elves…" Noting their pointed ears he stopped, blinked and continued: "Oh, I see you are Elves as well"

"Ah… yes?"

"Then you surely belong to the Elves in there" the other guard said, "Of course, then you can go trough"

The massive door slid slowly open, allowing the eight to enter. "Is it just me or are these guys too trusting?" Midna asked when they were out of hearing range.

"I doubt this" Vaati muttered. He threw a look around. Soldiers were everywhere on the castellated walls, observing their every step. "They _are_ careful. But they know what their queen is able to do, so they won't need to worry about her safety too much"

Quickly they crossed the snow-covered castle yards. A huge well was in the center of it, several massive buildings stood everywhere and there was a cave in the background. But most impressing was the ancient castle itself. It was not as elaborate as Hyrule castle, but certainly impressing, too.

Some more soldiers awaited them in front of the massive oak doors. They barred their way, barking: "Halt! Who goes there?"

Link took the lead again. "We are the ambassadors of Hyrule. I am the King of Hyrule, and I wish to speak to Queen Mercuria. These are my wife the Queen, my most trusted knights, the King and Queen of the Twilight Realm and two envoys of the desert-dwelling Gerudo"

The soldiers shied back, bowed to Link and opened the doors. "Lady Mercuria will be in the top floors. Welcome in Braverock Castle, your Majesty. Please make yourself comfortable here"

"We won't stay long" Zelda said. Then she and the others disappeared into the great halls of the castle.

When they were inside, Shadow nudged Link and smirked: "You are pretty adapt at that royal stuff. I never saw you acting like that before"

"When you are the King, the people expect you to act like that" Link grumbled, "I don't like to act that way, though"

Awestruck the eight crossed now through the throne hall. The floor and walls were made of polished black granite, a red carpet lay on the ground. The wooden throne was richly ornamented, like the massive wooden ceiling. Big stained glass windows were in the walls, allowing the sun to throw colourful blurs into the room. Massive pillars bordered the walls, supporting the ceiling and everything above.

Behind the throne was a big staircase, indicating them where to go next. They followed this path.

At the top of the stairs was another large room. Thick red carpets lay on the ground, big stained glass windows and expensive furniture completed the room. And on the expensive furniture were several people sitting. They had turned around to get a good look at the intruders.

There was a beautiful blonde woman, similar to Zelda. She had warm blue eyes and wore beautiful robes in green, blue and white. Her pointed ears showed that she belonged to the Elves. Next to her was a man with pale skin and white hair, red and black leather armour and cold red eyes. A scar ran over the right side of his narrow face. He too had pointed ears.

Across of them was a white-haired and red-eyed woman. She had a silver tiara on her head and wore black and white leather and linen clothes, two long swords were on her belt.

And in the center of them all – still as unearthly beautiful as ever – was Mercuria. She had not changed a bit ever since they saw her twenty years ago. Perfect, immaculate skin and perfectly proportioned body covered in sparse blue clothing. A set of wing-like blades was on her back and her bright blonde hair was pulled in two pony tails. Mercuria's white eyes were widened in surprise as she became aware of the eight.

She rose from her seat to her full size – she was even taller than Midna, but not as lanky as the Twili Queen.

"I have already expected to see you again" she finally said, her voice sounded like the purest bells, "But I did not expect to see you this soon"

"Soon?" Link asked chuckling, "You call twenty years soon?"

"Mercuria?" the elf woman began, "Are those the people that helped you kill Anducar?"

"Yes, Meg, they are. Although the two girls there are new"

"The brute one reminds me of Onnen" the dark elf man said. His voice was cold, indifferent and sly, like a cruel killer.

"Why are you here?" Mercuria asked as she stepped up to Link.

"Well…" Link began, not sure about how to put this, "We need your help… again, I think"

Mercuria tilted her head. "You are an expert on the demon subject after all" Zelda carried on, "And we have a slight demon problem… well not exactly a problem"

"Please sit down, and tell me" The eight obeyed.

Zelda took the lead. Swiftly she told everything they had experienced until now. She told of the most important things and within a few moments everything that had to be said, was said.

Mercuria leaned back on her seat and summarised: "Your children were stolen and you tracked the culprit down. There he opened a portal to the demon world and fought you"

"Exactly. The portal has been closed on our side, but Fi told us that we had to close it on the other side as well… and we are still missing our own children… can you help us again?"

The Seraphim looked up to the ceiling. "It is my duty as Seraphim to aid anyone that needs my help" she finally said, "So of course I will help you with everything I can – but this is not much, I am afraid"

"Demon world, eh?" the dark elf asked, "Wasn't that the area where you could not use your magic properly?"

"Just like that, Laurelinad. You are not interested in helping them, are you?"

"Nah. We got some troubles with marauding bandits ourselves. And – to put it bluntly – I enjoy killing humans more than killing demons – they are less tolerant to pain"

"And I thought you had broken that habit of his?" the white-haired woman said smirking.

"I tried to, Safiria" Meg sighed, "But it's really hard to domesticate a Dark Elf"

Mercuria interrupted them. "It is true. I lose a great part of my powers when in the demon's realm. So I can not accompany you there. But I can show you the way to Stone Heaven"

Link looked up with some hope in his eyes: "Thank you Mercuria"

She held up her hand and continued: "I will also aid you in looking for your children… Laurelinad, Safiria, Maeglacarwen? Can you send out your spies in order to look for them?"

"Will do, Mercuria" Meg said smiling. Turning to the Hylians she said: "Good luck"

The Hylians were grateful for the Seraphim's help and within half an hour they were on their way to Stone Heaven. The Underworld and realm of Demons.

First Stop: The treetop capital of the Dryads: Dyr-Laigh.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

As soon as they exited the portal the sultriness hit them like a sledgehammer. Within moments sweat clung everywhere on their bodies.

"Holy crap!" Zelda cursed, "What's that?"

"This is the Island of the Dryads. Humans refer to it as 'Eden'" Mercuria explained. She took a look around and said: "Two thousand years ago this place was called Aerendyr, it was a harbour city then" Absent-minded Mercuria kicked a pebble with her booted foot. It was a leftover of a once marvellous obelisk-like statue. "Anducar tore Eden down to Hell centuries ago. Only through his defeat in Stone Heaven the curse could be removed… But much had been destroyed, including Aerendyr"

Only now the others managed to look around. They had arrived in a forest, so thick and dense that they could not see the sun from the ground. Most of the trees were larger than in Hyrule, but some specimen dwarfed anything around them. One of those trees alone was larger and taller than any tree they had ever seen – only the massive stump in Faron Woods could compare with this. Huge flowers stood at the base of the giant overgrown trees. Moss and lichen of immense sizes hung from the gnarly bark.

Diaanja and Samura looked around in a mixture of awe and shock. Since they came from the desert, neither of them had ever seen such amount of green foliage and water.

"This is…" Sam began to stutter, "…this is… a paradise…"

"That's why they call it Eden" Mercuria added smiling, "It literally means 'Paradise' in the ancient tongue"

Shadow looked around. Except for some extremely overgrown ruins he could not discover anything. "And the way to the demon's realm is here?"

"No, not here. Aerendyr is the gate to the rest of Ancaria. But the gate into the demon realm is further in the north - in the capital Dyr-Laigh. And this is where we have to go"

Midna looked into the dense jungle. But she could not even look more than six feet. "How are we supposed to get there? Walking through this amount of foliage and shrubbery will cost us days"

"And it would be a torture in this humidity" Vaati added.

Mercuria threw a glance over. "Why do you think I brought Furia along?" she asked and patted her tiger mounts' black and red head. The huge beast purred like a kitty in her hands.

"We should've brought horses" Zelda muttered.

"No. Horses can't cross this region. You'll have to fall back on the native mounts here… ah, there she is"

A woman had discovered them. She was relatively small, had strongly tanned skin, dark hair and wore sparse clothing made from leather, leaves and colourful feathers. Pointed ears, bone piercings and paint in her face perfected her exotic appearance. A Dryad.

"A Seraphim!" she called out in surprise, "It's an honour to meet an agent of the Goddess Kybele – what can I do for you?"

"Are you the mount dealer?" Mercuria asked. The Dryad only reached up to her breast, as Link noticed slightly amused.

"I am. The best mounts in all of Dyr-Laigh are mine"

"Perfect. I need four to bring my companions safely to Dyr-Laigh. We'll bring them back once we're done"

After a while of bargaining, the Dryad returned and handed the four groups some reigns. And on the end of those reigns were the largest lizards Link had ever seen. Monitor Lizards with impressive spikes on their tails and around their heads. Only they were huge. Two persons could easily ride one of these beasts.

"These Monitor Lizards are specifically bred by the Dryads" Mercuria explained, "They are the best method of transportation here"

-0-

Before long, the group had already reached a powerful stream. The remains of a bridge were there, half rotten in the tropical heat. But they could cross the stream anyways. Monitor Lizards were perfect swimmers as well, and since they had a great flotation depth their riders were actually enjoying a cool bath.

"I always thought lizards would be lazy and slow!" Shadow exclaimed, "But these things are better than any horse!"

"Once we reach Dyr-Laigh we have to go to an old acquaintance of mine. Zhoom travelled with me two thousand years ago and we need her permission to enter the portal to Stone Heaven" Mercuria explained. Throwing a gaze over to Vaati she added: "But you can not come with us, sorcerer"

Vaati dropped his head. Of course the others had told the Seraphim about his little… outbreak… back in Daloriel's tower. His demon side would suppress him in the demon realm since it was a lot stronger there. "I understand…" he said quietly.

The monitor lizards and the tiger reached the bank of the river, climbed out and trekked down an old path. It was entirely overgrown with vegetation, and they could only guess how Mercuria could find her way here.

"And what about me?" Diaanja asked slowly. After all, she too had a little 'outbreak' back then.

Mercuria smiled reassuring at the girl. "Don't worry, my child. Vaati carries another creature in his body, a demon. It is an own character itself, and the beast is enforced by the aura of the demon realm – and this gives it the strength to fight against the sorcerer. But you do not own such a creature. You can act in the demon world – although I do believe that you will act a little more aggressive than usually"

"Wait…" Shadow began, "The Red Plague twenty years ago did enforce Master V in his demon shape as well… why did he not lost his wits then?"

"Oi, I'm still here, you know"

"Red Plague is only an extension of the demon realm, but it is not the real thing. Stone Heaven is a different level altogether. The magic that keeps it alive is stronger and darker than anything you have ever experienced before"

-0-

The sun had long since gone, but the heat and sultriness was still suffocating. Due the sheer amount of brush grown over the path, even Mercuria was forced to stop and check her position more than once. But eventually they found a wooden elevator somewhere on a huge tree.

"This is it" Mercuria huffed out, "The main entrance to Dyr-Laigh"

"Rather unspectacular" Link said.

"Well, what do you expect? After one thousand years of being under siege by Anducar's armies the more spectacular entrances are either destroyed or dismantled by the Dryads"

"How will they know that we are here?" Ashei inquired.

"Trust me, for every Dryad you see, there are twenty you don't see"

That was very true. Not once were they unobserved during their trek here. And now the elevator brought them up into the highest tree tops.

Up here was a different world altogether. Dyr-Laigh was a fortress build from tree houses and connected with bridges. There were Dryads everywhere, strange fruits on the trees and colourful birds and insects. In awe the eight looked around. Only Vaati's Wind Palace was somewhat comparable to this.

Diaanja and Samura stared down into the steaming forest beneath their feet like little children. Never before had they seen something similar.

But Mercuria soon urged them further. Their way led them over several platforms and bridges towards a larger tree house on a particular huge tree. A spiralling staircase was build into the massive bark. Flanked by several Dryads armed with bows and blow pipes they made their way up there.

"…Nice decoration…" Vaati mumbled when they came past several shrunken demon heads impaled on spears.

"Zhoom always did like collecting this kind of souvenirs"

Soon they had reached the topmost platform. There was a small canopy there. And there on some pillows, enlightened by some torches and surrounded by shrunken heads and one especially large Monitor Lizard, was the Queen of the Dryads.

Like any other Dryad she was rather short. And she was much older than most other Dryads. However, Link was taken back when he and the others recognised one thing: This Dryad had fought several battles in her life, and obviously also lost a fair amount of them.

Her whole right side had been heavily scarred, her ear was torn off and her eye was missing. Also her right arm and leg were gone. Nevertheless she emanated an aura of respect and power. Her single green eye looked as sharp as the eyes of a hawk and her face was hard.

Raising her only eyebrow she looked at the Seraphim: "So we meet again, Mercuria. Took some time, eh?"

"Zhoom" Mercuria said, "It is good to see you again"

"You are not here to only pay me a visit" the dryad said, "And the fact that you brought a _demon_ with you only amplifies this" She spat the word like poison. Diaanja felt somewhat bad right now.

"Don't take it personally" Mercuria whispered, "Demons had fought them for a millennium, crippling her and killing many of her children. I'm afraid this made her bitter"

"You are right, Mercuria!" Zhoom called over to them. "I'm maybe half deaf, but only half!"

Mercuria smiled a little. "You always knew how to impress me, Zhoom"

"Cut that sweet talk crap" she snapped, "What are you and your new gang here for?"

"We have to close a portal in the demon world Stone Heaven" Mercuria explained, "Therefore we have to access your portal"

Zhoom laughed up. "Hah! That's everything? Sure, do your thing, Merc. I still owe you anyways – thanks to you my children and grandchildren know what sun and wind are" She waved at the tree tops surrounding them. "And you can stay here as long as you please… just keep the demons away from me, or I can't guarantee for anything"


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

With a heavy sigh Fai trudged from the market place where she got something to eat. Onnen had stayed in their temporary home to train the twins, but Fai herself had sore muscles from yesterday's training session.

"Onnen does obviously not know how to train a child the right way…" she grumbled. A slight pull on her hand attracted her attention. Fuu had accompanied her, since he was simply too young to be trained.

"When will Mommy and Daddy come?" he asked sadly.

Fai smiled half-heartedly. "We have to wait a little longer, Fuu, they will come" Even though it was already over a week since they were so abruptly thrown into Stone Heaven.

"Will they find us?" the boy perked up again.

"I hope so, Fuu…"

By now the pair had reached the portal leading to the 'tree hugger's home', as Onnen had put it. But other than the ornamented stone archway, this portal was only a simple stone pedestal.

The girl wondered for what seemed to be the thousandth time whether they should simply try their luck and go to the Dryads. It could not be worse than the daemon's treatment. Even though the succubus was well-intentioned, she lacked the necessary finesse to treat a child the right way.

Or perhaps she did. She did know how to treat a kid the appropriate way… a daemon child, at least.

Before the two could strike the path back to Onnen's house, the somewhat familiar roar of magic reached their ears. They turned around and watched a glowing portal opening above the stone pedestal.

"The portal… it's being activated?" Fai asked in surprise.

Fuu hid behind her a little, unsure what to do about this object.

But their slight anxiousness turned to utter disbelief and then relief when they saw who exited the portal. A tall man wearing royal green robes, a cloak and a golden crown and who had blue eyes and cleanly cut blonde hair and beard. Link!

He looked around in awe, looking at the tall stone buildings and gazed over the curious Haduk. But he did not see Fai and Fuu since a female Haduk had positioned herself between them to get a better look at the newcomers.

After Link came Zelda, who wore royal travelling clothes instead of her usual dress. Fai could feel her heart skipping a beat and a warm feeling of happiness flowed through her veins. Quickly Shadow, Ashei, Midna and two Gerudo – one of which looked a little odd - came through the portal, stopping there and beginning to discuss the next steps. Vaati was nowhere to be seen, though.

"Mommy!" Fuu yelled out and freed himself from Fai's grasp to run to his mother. Midna turned around in surprise and was promptly hugged by her five-year old son. He only reached up to her knees, though.

"Fuu?" she called out. "Fuu!"

Link could only blink as he saw something in Midna's face he had not seen for years: Tears. Only this time they were tears of joy.

"Mom! Dad!" Fai called out and ran over as well, interrupting Link's train of thought, "You came!"

"Fai!" her parents called out. The girl fell into their arms and sobbed a while. "It's alright, honey, we are here"

Sam watched the scene before them play out with an unreadable face. Then she turned to Diaanja, taken back for a moment. Diaanja had a strange expression on her face. Her demon blood began to boil as she noticed the heavy smell of demons all around her.

"Don't try to pull anything" Sam warned her, "You don't know what awaits us here – and you could run into any trouble"

"I'm trying, but it is not easy" her friend growled.

Shadow took his niece by her shoulders. "Fai, are Kuat and Iae here as well?" he asked worried.

The princess nodded, wiped her tears and smiled again. "They are with someone who helped us out. This way"

-0-

Finally the long wait was over. The Hylian heroes had finally their children back. After Shadow had literally been thrown over by his tumultuous sons, they were all simply holding their children as if afraid of losing them again. The daemon and the two Gerudo stood on opposite sides and watched the situation in silence.

Finally Link turned to the horned, winged daemon: "Thank you, daemon, thank you for caring over our children"

"Meh" she grumbled, "Just see that ya get the brats out of here again"

Link nodded another thanks. Then he remembered something. "Allow me one question… We look for someone named Onnen…"

"Ya found her" Onnen exclaimed smirking, "I'm Onnen"

"Onnen helped us through this crazy world!" Kuat explained grinning, "And she showed us how to fight like her!"

Shadow came over and said: "We kind of need your help as well, Onnen"

"I'm not babysittin' again"

"Eh, no… not that…" Shadow stammered.

"The point is that someone opened up a portal into the demon realm" Link explained, taking the lead again, "We closed it on our side, but it is still open here"

"Ah, so that's the distortion in the fabric of magic here! Wondered about that already"

"Can you help us find and close it again?"

Onnen tilted her head and smirked again. "Ya look way better armed and able to fight. I think it'll be fun to hang out with ya"

"You are going to help us?"

"Only to have a reason to kill stuff… although I don't really _need _a reason" Looking past Link's shoulder she discovered Diaanja standing there. "Ya got a half blood with ya, I see. Didn't think that would've been possible"

Diaanja trembled when Onnen approached her. Even though she was no small fry, Onnen was still towering almost a whole foot above her. "The blood in ya veins smells good… ya seem to be a worthy opponent"

"Opponent?" Diaanja asked hissing, "You want to fight?"

"I guess ya already noticed that daemons need to establish a hierarchy amongst themselves, otherwise there would anarchy down here" She smirked and stepped a little back, ignoring the protesting outcry from the others as she carried on: "Since ya seem pretty strong as well, I want to test ya… come on. Show me ya demonic power. Fight me!"

"I… uh… don't think that is a good idea" Zelda piped up nervously. "You don't need to fight, we all know who the leader here is!"

They ignored her and drew their swords. Ashei put a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "I don't think they will listen to you. Let them fight, we have to get the children out of here"

"Where is Daddy?" Fuu asked.

Midna smiled down at her son, ignoring the loud crash from one of the two women hitting and smashing through a building, "He's not allowed to be here. But he will wait on the other side. Come, let's get you away from here"

-oo0oo-

Vaati was pacing up and down in front of the portal. Mercuria – who was sitting on a stone – raised an eyebrow and said: "They won't come back faster when you keep on doing that"

"I should be there and help them" Vaati growled, "I feel useless when I can't do anything"

"The demon inside you would not help anyone when it came out. So calm down and stop this pacing – it irritates me"

The sorcerer – although he knew she was right – wanted to snap something when the portal was suddenly activated again. And out of it came Zelda and Ashei – and they had the lost children with them!

And again Fuu was the first to react. Like with his mother earlier he also clung now to his father's legs. Vaati was first surprised, then his gaze softened and he plucked his son from his legs and took him up. For the first time in centuries, he was actually happy.

"You're not supposed to run away like that" he said softly, "Your mother and I were sick with worry"

"S…Sorry Daddy" Fuu answered snivelling. "Are you mad?"

"I'm just glad you're safe"

"Hey Vaati!" Zelda called over to him with a big grin, "You look good with kid!"

"I know!" the sorcerer shot back. "Where's the rest of the gang?"

"Stayed in Stone Heaven with Onnen. They want to close the portal again"

"And care to tell me why you two are here again?"

"I can't use my magic in Underworld" Zelda explained sheepishly.

"And I am not as powerful as the others are" Ashei added. "So we decided to keep you and the children some company"

"How very thoughtful of you" he deadpanned.

"It is only good that you came back" Mercuria threw in. "The portal may be closed on this side, but the border is thin and fragile until the portal is closed on the other side"

"What are you implying?"

"A powerful demon can be able to break through anyways. And when it should happen, it will come here"

Vaati blinked and asked: "How can you be so sure that it won't appear in Daloriel's tower?"

"Because Eden had been part of Stone Heaven for centuries. Its link to the Otherworld is still strong. When a demon breaks through the border separating Stone Heaven from here, it will use this link and appear here" She got up and stemmed her hands into her hips: "Will you assist me in keeping the demons at bay if they should break through?"

Zelda grinned: "You can count on us, Mercuria"

"And on us!" Kuat exclaimed.

"Kuat! You will not fight demons!" Ashei called out, "It's too dangerous!"

"Mom! We survived Stone Heaven all alone. And with you around it'll be no danger!"

Ashei opened and closed her mouth several times, but gave in. "Ah okay. Then you may fight with us. But keep back, you hear me? Leave the tough stuff to Vaati and Mercuria"

"Thanks Mom!" the twins called out grinning.

"I wanna help you, too" Fuu piped up.

Vaati threw him a glance and poked him: "No Fuu. You are simply too young. Wait some more years, and then you can assist me"

"No fair"

"Absolutely fair"

"No fair!"


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Onnen had won their little dispute. She was leading the group of six (eight if you count the Sword Spirits) out of the eastern gate and right through a plain infested by gigantic insects. Diaanja – having therefore lost – was trudging gloomily at the rear.

The mood was still relatively good, even when they fought off another horde made of huge insect larvae and Mire Worms.

Before them was a giant and steep mountain flank. It was grey, smooth rocks and looked as if it was made from frozen, tormented souls. Immediately they remembered when Hyrule looked like this twenty years ago.

Onnen was constantly surveying the smooth, rather spine-chilling mountain face, as if she was looking for something.

Finally Samura broke the silence. "Hey Onnen!" she called out, "What are we looking for exactly?"

"A gap" was the simple answer, "About 15 feet wide and 30 high"

"A gap?" Link asked surprised, "A gap to where?"

"Ach, do I have to tell ya everythin'?" the daemon growled. Onnen smashed another Mire Worm to bits and turned around. "But since ya promise a whole lot of fun, I'll explain it. But I will do that only once, so perk up ya ears!"

She crossed her arms and began to tell: "As far as ya told me, ya look for the position of the demon Bellum since the portal was opened directly in its closer periphery. I know where to find that giant jellyfish with teeth" She pointed to the ground. "Somewhere below us"

"Below?" Shadow asked confused, "How's that possible… oh, you mean in a cave?"

"More or less. Ya see, the Underworld is actually a world on two planes of existence. Where we currently are is the Upper Underworld, also known as Stone Heaven. But there's another level underneath us – The Lower Underworld which is simply called Hell" She huffed out and looked back to the wall with a smirk: "Now Hell is where all the strong beasts are – Hell is where the fun really is!"

"Strong beasts…? Are these here not enough?"

"Giant bugs and demonic beasts are not exactly my definition of 'fun' – that may have somethin' to do with me bein' actually born in the Lower Underworld… Anyways, normally these two levels are separated from each other – but there is a link Anducar created when he came to the Upper Underworld for the first time. And that is a colossal cave system, halfway between Lower and Upper underworld. Anducar named it Hell's Ridge… and this is where this giant jellyfish with teeth is"

"Hell's Ridge…" Link muttered, "Does not sound inviting"

"For the lot of ya it ain't inviting" Onnen smirked, "For me it's fun without end"

With that said, the group began to move again, constantly looking for the gateway to Hell.

Very soon however, Onnen broke the silence. Pointing to a spot in front of her she said smirking: "There's the entrance to Hell's Ridge. If ya want to turn around, turn now – I'll go in. There's no way I miss out on this!"

-oo0oo-

Several hours of almost continuous fighting later the group had still not managed a third of the way. Due the absence of sunlight, Link could not directly say how much time had passed, but on the Overworld it must've been midnight already.

"Goddesses" he groaned, "I'm rusty. Can't remember being this sore before!"

"I'm beginning to miss my old magical body" Shadow grunted. But the two men were not the only ones exhausted.

Onnen and Diaanja were actually the only ones able to continue right about now.

"How many Bolting Terrors did we kill until now?" Midna asked and wiped some dirt off her face. "Forget it, too many already"

The daemon swung her claymore around, killing some more Bolting Terrors. The last one for now went down in a bloody pile. Only now did Onnen realise how tired the others looked. "What? Tired already?"

"Onnen, not all of us have demon blood in their veins. We can't continue further – we need to rest for some hours"

"Ya wimps" Onnen snarled. "But whatever – there's a cave somewhere around here. If ya need to rest there's the right place"

"That would be really obliging of you"

"Whatever" the daemon snorted, "I could go through here non-stop"

"Yeah, but we are no demons" Link deadpanned, "So either you let us rest for a few hours, or you going to have to carry us"

"Ya worse than ya brat"

"Deal with it"

Onnen wanted to snap something when she suddenly sensed something. "Huh? Well, whaddya know? There's a demonic presence in the closer vicinity" she said. A feral grin came to her face: "And it's truly powerful"

"What? Does that mean there's a strong demon around?"

"Not only strong…" Diaanja said, shivering on her whole body, "Powerful… sheer power… It's really oppressing"

"And it's nearby" Onnen began to march into the direction of the oppressive powers, mumbling something about a 'damn good fight'.

"Yeah right" Sam grumbled, "Let's all go into the direction of immediate danger!"

But since the daemon did not stop to listen, the others followed her. Tired or not, if Onnen ran into a situation, they had to support her.

The closer they came towards the source, the more clearly could they feel the immense power. It made the hair on the back of their necks standing upright and cold sweat clung to their skin.

"Is it a danger, Fi?" Link whispered.

"Invalid data" the sword spirit spoke up. "I advise you to be prepared for everything"

Ghirahim butted in as well "This is a good idea, my dear sister… however, this power seems familiar… But it can not be…" Only then the Sword Spirit noticed the way the others were staring at him. "…What?" he asked irritated.

"Ghirahim… you…"

"Spill it, Sky Child"

"Your… well…"

"Ya paler" Onnen threw in.

Ghirahim blinked and finally looked down on himself. What he saw made him confused, shocked even. And yet it made him somewhat… positively giddy.

His dark steel skin had disappeared, and had been changed to a pale grey skin tone and skin tight white clothing with diamond-shaped cuts. There was now a red and golden high-collared cloak and his white hair was as fluffy as before, creating a curtain in front of his left eye.

Less favourable, however, was the dull throbbing pain from his lower back. Since the wound left on him from Mercuria's attack on his person and the following surgery to restore his mobility had not entirely healed when he transformed into his Sword Spirit shape – and since then his human body had not been able to heal completely since then – it was still as painful as twenty years ago.

Nevertheless his body had been returned to his humanoid appearance.

Diamond-shaped tattoo under the left of his dark eyes included.

"Well… look at that" he mused, "Now that's an interesting turn of events"

"How…?" Link asked shocked, "How can you regain your human shape?"

Ghirahim looked into the direction of the demonic powers. Absent-minded he said: "So it is indeed true… but how?" And before they could react, Ghirahim was already jogging into said direction. Onnen followed him on the heel since she too was interested in whatever may be there.

The others looked at each other for a troubled moment before they too took off after them.

The closer they came the more Link noted that there was no other demon around. Alone the demonic presence was powerful and intimidating enough to keep other creatures at bay. The Hylian King gulped and tensed the grip on his sword.

Soon they found a hidden cave entrance. The demonic presence was inside.

"That smells like fun" Onnen said, still smirking.

"I don't want to know what you think of as 'fun'" Link grumbled and drew his sword, "Whatever may be in there, we're prepared"

However, as soon as they entered, Link corrected himself.

They were not prepared for this.

And neither were they prepared for Onnen's reaction. "HE-LLOOOOOO! Who's that hot beastie?"


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

It was long past midnight when Vaati finally entered the small tree hut the Dryads had lent to him. The hut had been built directly against a tree and was pretty small, consisting of only one room; but Dryads did not need so much space. They did not have any big belongings anyways.

As far as Vaati had gleaned the Dryads – another subspecies of the widespread Elves – did not have the concept of property like the Hylians did. Everyone shared everything with everyone - except for their weapons and mates, of course.

The sorcerer looked around in the dark hut. Even though it was not as luxurious as his Wind Palace or the Twilight Palace he now also called home – and the sultriness was deadly – he liked it here. Eden was truly a paradise. Perhaps he could relocate his Wind Palace here as his winter residence? The sultriness could be taken care of through his power over wind anyways.

Vaati just closed the fur flap that served as a door when he heard a sleepy: "Daddy?" At the end of the room was his son. Due the absence of beds, they slept on simple mattresses made from furs and leathers directly on the wooden floor. And right now Fuu occupied the only one in here – Dryads also shared their rather large pallets with each other.

"Where were you?" Fuu asked, his big red eyes looking up where his father just doffed his cloak.

"Mercuria had something to say" Vaati said and sat down next to him, "We have to be prepared if the demons should come here"

"Will you fight them?"

"If I have to"

Fuu yawned. "Fighting is bad. Why does one fight anyways?"

Vaati sighed and patted his son's head: "You have to know that there are two types of fighting. Most people fight only because they want to, or because they want to have something from the others – this is bad. But some others fight because they have to protect themselves or those they love – and when they do, this is good"

Fuu tilted his head like a curious bird. "Good fighting?"

"When you have the right reason, any fight can have a good outcome. And fighting to protect this island is a right reason" Vaati lay down and crossed his arms behind his head. "Now go to sleep. It's late"

"Will Mommy come back?"

"Oh, don't worry about Mommy. She's got Link and Shadow with her. You'll see, Fuu. Midna's going to be back really fast, and then we go back home. But for now you should sleep"

Fuu yawned again and curled up against his father's side. Within moments he was in deep slumber – the fresh breeze his father had called helped a lot to sleep. Vaati, however, stayed awake and stared gloomily at the ceiling. Mercuria had actually not only disputed the plan of action. After they had left Zhoom and Zelda and Ashei went to their respective huts, Mercuria had kept Vaati back.

"_The demon inside you is a powerful entity" she had said,_ _"A force of nature, even. But it has to be controlled all the time… Can I trust you to keep the beast under control when the time comes?"_

"_I will do my best"_

After that, Vaati had explained to Mercuria how his powers worked.

When he took the Wishing Cap from his Master, his emotions and desires gave birth to an entity in his body. A demon comparable only to the most powerful beasts they had ever seen. Seen from this point of view, Vaati was actually a lot like Anducar. Both had to take care that the demon inside of them was not able to come out. Because of this constant pressure, most of their powers were actually bound by the attempt to suppress the very source of their might. But if this barricade should fall, the whole brunt force would be freed at once.

They had seen it with Anducar.

Aside from unearthly powers his demon granted him something else, too. Near-immortality and eternal youth. Indeed Vaati still looked like the day when he destroyed his Minish shape and became what he was now. He had not aged a single day, still looking like 18. Vaati was also able to survive things that would kill everyone else – he had proven it more than once.

And this made him incredible sad. Some years ago he would not even shed a second thought on his eternal youth. But now…

He looked down at the pale hair of his young son and his gaze softened. Due his condition he would not only watch his son grow up but he would also see Gufuu die of old age.

A heavy sigh from his throat told everyone how he felt about this. Some day he would survive his whole family, everyone he loved and respected. And he would not have aged another day!

But that would take some more years. Vaati turned carefully to his side and pulled his son to an embrace against his chest. The time he had was unlimited, but the time he had with others was very sparse.

So he would enjoy every moment.

Finally he dozed off into sleep, not caring about anything outside his little paradise.

-oo0oo-

That Vaati was not the only one able to survive fatal injuries became only too clear. Link gulped again and grabbed his sword harder, his knuckles were actually turning white. He could sense Shadow and Midna reacting like this as well. Onnen was still smirking broadly, Ghirahim was too damn delighted and the two Gerudo girls were uncertain.

Because in front of them was something – no, _someone_ – they had not expected to see ever again.

Not after he had been defeated by the terrible demon once known as Anducar.

But there he was!

Even when sitting, he was much larger than Link, and _thrice_ as broad then Onnen. A huge heap which looked like a terrible cross between an Orc and an Ogre and that was made from muscles, grey mottled skin with black demonic lines and onyx scales.

The King of Demons.

Demise.

The only visible of his burning eyes narrowed when he became aware who the intruders were. His mane, which was burning black until now, flared up, and turned back to its usual fiery colour as he rose to his feet. Link, Shadow and Midna stepped involuntarily back when the huge demon turned to face them. He was far larger than Onnen, standing at least ten feet tall – even when he stood slightly hunched over as usual! His immense body seemed to fill the cave entirely in.

Quickly Link noticed something other. Some new white-glowing scars were now covering several spots on his body, but the most striking scar was the one on his forehead. It was now running over his left eye and his cheek down to the corner of his mouth. The left eye was closed shut, destroyed most likely in his apocalyptic battle with Anducar.

That his black and golden kilt had been damaged as well did not really strike them.

Even despite the fact that the King of Demons had suffered the loss of half his vision, he was still a fearsome foe. The power he radiated out was truly nauseating.

Nobody dared to move or even say a thing for what seemed an eternity.

Onnen was eventually the one that broke the tense silence. "I'm surprised" she said airily, crossed her arms and strode leisurely closer to the hulking giant, "I thought everythin' here was only a pushover. Hadn't expected to meet somethin' as powerful as ya… What's ya name I wonder…"

"Master… Demise!" Ghirahim called out in delight and surprise.

Onnen turned her head with a raised eyebrow. Demise still glared at them. "Demise?"

"King of Demons…" Shadow hissed.

"Demon King?" Onnen called out in surprise. Turning back to face the huge demon she added: "Ya know, that's kind of my title… And ya know the rules, don't ya?"

Wait… the rules in the demon world were…

Everyone (except Ghirahim) jumped back with a start.

"Wait! Do you want to fight him now?"

"Should we run?"

"In every case!"

Without further ado Link, Shadow and Midna grabbed onto Onnen and began to pull her away. Onnen was understandable not okay with that and yelled: "Ey ya damned bitches! Let go!" Well, she said it in a far less civil way and also a lot more colourful. But this was the main message.

Quickly the three and the cursing daemon were out of the cave and out of sight. Samura – intend on helping them with said daemon – followed quickly suit.

Only Diaanja and Ghirahim remained behind for now.

The young Gerudo stiffened as she felt the burning gaze of the demon king searing into her skin. She looked up to the giant demon, knowing instantly that this creature was no-one else but the one who fathered her.

The resemblance was uncanny, both had the same fiery eyes and hair and black scales. Even Demise seemed to notice this, judging from the uncertain glare he gave this girl.

"Diaanja!" Sam cried, "Come here! We need you!"

Diaanja threw a last glance to the giant demon and ran out of the cave to support her friends. Demise looked after her.

Finally he turned to the pale-grey skinned demon and asked: "Who is this girl?"

"Her name is Diaanja" Ghirahim said and bowed, "She's a Gerudo…"

"I see…"

Only then Shadow yelled for his Sword Spirit and Ghirahim – no matter how much he was actually attached to his former Master – followed his present Master's order. Demise remained behind.

He stared after them for a while. With a huff he eventually turned back around to sit down again. Twenty years after the fatal defeat at Anducar's hands he had finally regenerated enough to be able to retake his position as demon king. But the irritating throb from his destroyed eye reminded him that even he could not heal what had been lost.

Suddenly there was another surge of demonic power. Demise turned towards its source, muttering: "You'll soon be free again, Bellum… but then, I will be there. After all, I am the only true King of Demons…" That meant that he would also have to deal with that female daemon sooner or later…

A feral smirk came to his face.

Soon the long wait would be over. Ten thousand years – give or take a few centuries – had passed since he was defeated by Hylia. And now the time was almost there for him to claim his throne again.

And then he would have no-one meddle with his plan.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

A massive black tower rose before them. It was so tall that it penetrated the cave's ceiling, reaching far into the rocks.

"That's Shaddar-Sub" Onnen explained from where they stood: On a pile of dead Frazzlers and Bolting Terrors. "It's the foundation of the black tower of Shaddar, reaching up into the Overworld"

"Is that structurally possible?" Sam asked sceptical.

Link put his hand onto her shoulder: "Sam, have you ever walked through Hyrule with open eyes? Much of what we have there is statically impossible – take the Eldin Bridge for example! A mile-high tower is not much more impossible than that"

Onnen threw them a glare and growled: "Shaddar-Sub got a small Haduk village as well. I guess ya can rest there"

"Finally!" Midna groaned, "This soreness is killing me!"

"Not my fault, sweetie. Ya were the ones that did not want to stay in that cave with that so-called demon king"

"Because" Link grumbled, with heavy stress on 'because', "That guy – Demise – is an enemy of Hyrule. He did try to overrun it several times. Also, he does not like us – and you would have probably triggered a pretty ugly onslaught with your fighting policy"

"Meh, whatever" Onnen shrugged. Pointing to the Haduk that stared at them with big eyes she said: "Now get to rest. I'll get some info about where that portal is exactly – because as soon as you can stand on ya feet, we'll have some demons to slay"

"Urgh. Even more?"

"Even more. Ya see, the portal lures any demon in its periphery to it, so ya can expect a massive horde there"

Onnen then went through the camp and disappeared around a corner. The others went to the Haduk, asking for a place to rest. Civil as they were the Haduk showed them to a small lean-to with some dirty blankets.

"Well, it's not the royal palace of Hyrule… but it'll do" To verify his point Link yawned. After their brief encounter with Demise, they had pretty much forgotten how tired they actually were, too scared of the consequences if Onnen had stayed longer. They had continued to travel then without break, killing and defeating many more Bolting Terrors, Frazzlers and Cerebropods.

Now they were at their limit. It was simply impossible to continue. And no matter how less welcoming the dirty, grey, scratchy blankets were; they simply slumped down and slept in within minutes without having eaten first.

Only Diaanja stayed awake for now. Uncertainly the young half-demon turned from where they came.

Diaanja could smell him still. Something in Stone Heaven had aroused her demonic blood and now her senses were extremely heightened. And even now she could smell the demon who fathered her.

Was he getting closer?

But why would he do something like that?

Oh wait. The portal attracted demons and Onnen attracted demons as well. After all, demons fight each other to establish their hierarchies. And since both, Onnen _and_ Demise, claimed the title of 'Demon King' a fight between those two was pretty much inevitable.

Diaanja sighed and lay down as well. She only hoped that they would not begin their little 'dispute' as long as the others were still in their vicinity.

-0-

Onnen had meanwhile reached the black tower. From close-up it was an even more impressing view than from further away. A heavily ornamented black door showed her the way, and after having killed some Frazzlers in the direct vicinity, she entered the gaping darkness.

"Yo, Shaddar! Come here ya old geezer!" the daemon called into the dark halls made from polished black stones. The only light here was extremely sparse, but Onnen did not care. She could still see perfectly in places where a normal human would not see a thing other than darkness.

But the man who entered through a small door could be clearly seen by anyone. He wore long white robes, had white hair and pallid skin.

"Ah, daemon" he said and came over, "It's long since you came to visit an old sorcerer like myself"

"Cut the crap, Shaddar" Onnen snarled, "And tell me what I wanna know!"

The old dark elf sorcerer crossed his arms and asked politely: "Then what do you wish to know from old Shaddar?"

"There should be a portal leadin' out of Underworld somewhere around here" Onnen explained, "Where is it exactly?"

"I already wondered when someone like you showed up because of this" Shaddar chuckled. "It's a little further in the east. There where your late … employer… sealed a powerful demon away centuries ago"

"So it is there where Bellum is? Sweet" With that Onnen turned on her heel and marched out again. Shaddar stared after her but eventually went back into the room from which he just came.

That the daemon did not even say 'Thank you' did not bother him in the slightest. First off, she was a daemon, and they were always pretty uncivil to anyone. And second – he did not deserve any better treatment anyways.

After all, over a century ago he had tried to conquer Ancaria by summoning a Sakkara Demon from the lowest pits of Hell.

But something went wrong.

The demon escaped his control and turned its wrath against its evocator, almost killing him in the process. Only through sheer dumb luck and a little teleportation spell he could escape with his life. The demon then ran amok in Ancaria, forcing eight pesky heroes – one of which was the female daemon from just now – to battle the beast. When they had killed it, Shaddar stole the demon's essence to use for his own.

However he was stopped by the eight. The portal he used to summon the demon backfired and Onnen – seeing her chance to return home – got hold of Shaddar and dragged him down with her to hell.

Without chance to escape from here, Shaddar was purged. Since then he chose to stay here to all eternity to make up for his terrible deed.

There were few things that worried him now, but seeing the portal and the terrible demon Bellum of which he heard so much within splitting distance… well, _this_ worried him.

-oo0oo-

Far above them the inhabitants of the Dryad forest did not know of anything that happened in Underworld. Of course, the possible threat of a demon breaking through hung heavy in the air. But the Dryad's attitude towards life did not suffer under this. Zelda and Ashei watched the Forest Dwellers continue living as if nothing would change. Men and women carried many baskets full of exotic fruits and colourful animals up and down the trees. Hunting parties went out for game, gatherer troops jumped through the trees, constantly looking for fruits and other raw material.

"They climb the trees like squirrels!" Ashei eventually said. "And I thought my boys could scale a tree in record time!"

"Oh, so that's how they always manage to get into the kitchen? Our cook was already fuming about them, but I could never understand how they were supposed to get there"

"Kuat and Iae climb like cats, that's true" Ashei replied grinning, "I suppose they got it from their father's side… But they pale in comparison to those Dryads!"

"Which reminds me… where are your twins anyways?"

"They're with Fai, training with Mercuria. They said something about sword practise"

Indeed the three kids and the Seraphim were only a few yards away, but due the sheer amount of vegetation – in the tree tops was so much foliage and mounting plants that up here was a whole forest on its own; hundreds of feet above the actual ground – a few yards could hide pretty much everything. On a wooden platform Mercuria instructed the three in the ways of Seraphim fighting. Fai had decided on shield and sword, her cousins wanted to try out two handed sword fighting.

Mercuria had given them only sticks, of course, to minimize possible injuries.

"I'm impressed" she said, "You are very well-advised in the ways of the sword. I suppose your fathers taught you?"

"Yeah!" Fai replied grinning, "The ministers don't like to see a girl fighting with such weapons, but dad showed me anyways"

"I'll never understand why the mortals don't want their daughters to fight for themselves!" Mercuria muttered, "If we were like that…"

"Do you Seraphim even _have_ men?" Kuat asked out of the blue. "I'm pretty sure dad never mentioned a male Seraphim"

"Oh no. Well… there are legends of a male warrior comparable to a Seraphim who fought alongside Hylia during the big demon war… but no. We don't have any men" She smiled a little. "We are kind of like your Gerudo in such case. But other than them, we don't really need a man since we are pretty much immortal"

"Immortality must be cool" Iae added thoughtfully.

"Not always" Mercuria threw in. She looked a little sad. "I'll survive everyone I know – and this can be really depressing sometimes"

The children looked at the tall Seraphim with big eyes. But eventually Mercuria straightened back up and took her own sticks up. "But I'm zoning out. Let's continue your training"

A little further away were Vaati and Gufuu sitting on a thick, overgrown tree branch in relatively cool shade.

"You have some talent in you, Fuu" Vaati said, "But you need to control your magic… because I can't always clean up after you. And who knows where you could land next time you become scared and teleport… Gufuu! Are you listening to me?"

To Vaati's disdain, his son was distracted by a colourful butterfly. Hearing his father shouting he timidly looked back at him with huge eyes.

The sorcerer groaned: "Ach, Fuu… if you keep on looking at me like that… how should I ever be mad at you?"

"May I play with the Dryad children, Daddy?"

"Wha…? No! I'm trying to teach you something here and…"

"Please?"

That evening Vaati found out, that he – the greatest sorcerer of the world; the Wind Sorcerer Vaati – had been utterly and totally defeated by his five-year old son.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

A few hours after having rather rudely waken up by the daemon and a sparse breakfast, the group around Onnen looked over a small ledge. In front of them was a rather large plateau, behind that was a deep gorge with the portal above. A narrow winding path led down there.

"No wonder I never found this place…" Onnen grumbled, "The path is pretty well hidden"

"We got other problems than that" Link hissed. "There are dozens of demons down there!"

"Ah, they ain't a problem. I can deal with such small fries in a few minutes"

Onnen got up and began to conjure her demonic powers. A white aura of magic surrounded her and formed a Mohawk of white energy on her bald head.

"Let's have some fun!" she yelled. With the claymore in her hands she jumped down and took a wide swing at the first demons. Her powers had tenfold due her magic, allowing her to kill all of the hit demons at once.

Shadow shrugged while the others looked somewhat dishevelled. "I don't think that would be problem. Onnen's taking the major part of them"

"So we join her, then?" Midna asked sighing. "Ah well… Let's get it over. The earlier we're done, the earlier we can go home to our children"

"What are we waiting for then?" Diaanja roared and jumped up, "Let's do this!"

While the half demon was running down to join the daemon, Sam sighed: "Definitely. We have to get out or otherwise Diaanja's going to get insane"

"Hopefully your friend doesn't retain any subsequent damages from this little trip…" Link muttered, "I think it would be bad if she started to act like Onnen around your people"

Sam shuddered at that thought. But a white-clad foot next to her startled her and she looked up to where Ghirahim stood. Ever since meeting Demise, he had not changed back into his Sword Spirit shape – and he loved it since he was able to use his own magic again.

With a feral smirk the pale demon snapped his fingers and summoned two black rapiers into his hands: "I was already getting tired of not being able to slay something with my own hands… How very benefiting for me…"

"Let me guess…" Shadow said dryly: "…that fills your heart with rainbows"

"Oh, you know me, Master Shadow" Ghirahim grinned. His cloak disappeared into a flurry of black diamond-shaped spots and he licked his pale lips in excitement. Then he jumped, teleported and was already in a heck of a fight together with Onnen and Diaanja.

"At least some of us are having fun" Midna muttered.

"I won't have so much fun" Shadow grumbled and drew the Redeemer. The orange runes etched into the black blade did not glow anymore. "As long as Ghira is not bound into the sword, it's not as powerful as before"

Link grinned at him: "At least Ghirahim is a powerful warrior himself – see it from that point!"

"Are we going to fight or are we only going to fool around?"

"Fight of course" And with that the remaining four of them ran down the winding path to support their friends in battle.

-oo0oo-

Mercuria was barking some orders. "Quick! The border to the demon realm is becoming dangerously thin – get ready to fight!"

"Count on us" Vaati said. Ashei and Zelda stood on either side of him and nodded determined.

"We come with you!" Kuat and Iae called out.

"I'm too!" Fai added.

"I will help you too!" Fuu called out. But Vaati shook his head, went over and picked his son up.

"No Fuu, you are too young" he said calmly. "You can not help us"

"But Kuat and Ie and Fai can come with you!"

"They are older and can fight on their own" Vaati explained, "You'll stay here with scary auntie Zhoom and wait until I come and pick you up again, understood?"

"But daddy!"

"No protest, Gufuu!"

Taken back his son looked at the sorcerer with big eyes as Vaati brought him over to the old Dryad. "Watch him, he likes to run away"

Zhoom nodded. "Kick their asses. And kick them hard!"

The others nodded and took off after the Seraphim. Fuu remained behind.

"Come here, kiddo" Zhoom said, "If you feel better, I'm going to tell you a few stories"

"Uhmm… okay" Fuu muttered and perched down next to the old Dryad. He was worried since he was all alone now. And even despite what his father had told him he was still scared. What if his parents would never return to him?

What would become of him then?

-oo0oo-

The fight was already over before it had really started. Onnen, Diaanja and Ghirahim had truly inflicted some heavy damage on the demons, killing off most of the beasts blocking the way.

Now there was no creature left. "Phew" Link said and wiped his brow, "I hope that was that"

"We have to check whether the seal on the demon Bellum is still intact" Samura replied thoughtfully, "But judging from the tremors of demonic powers I doubt that"

Quickly they ran over to the gorge. However, before they arrived a bolt of magical energy hit the ground in front of them.

"Not so fast, my dear friends" someone said. The six from Hyrule began to growl when they recognized who stood there.

He was pretty chipped and his clothes were torn, but he was still alive.

"Daloriel" Midna growled, "I'm surprised that you survived this"

"I'm surprised myself, my dear" the warlock said smirking, "All this time in this Goddesses forsaken place took a toll on me… but there was something good…"

Another heavy tremor ran through the fabric of Stone Heaven. The air shook and an eerie glow radiated from the gorge. The seal was breaking.

"Remember what I told you about freeing the demon Bellum? A sorcerer can do it from here as well!"

"Don't tell me…"

"Oh yes! I have waited years for this! Bellum will be free – and then we shall become as one and I will rule the world!"

A deep rumbling, thundering roar called forth their attention.

"That ain't good" Onnen grumbled, "That bitch is incredible powerful"

"Hearing that from your mouth makes it only worse" Ghirahim growled.

"Onnen, what is a Bellum?" Sam asked nervously.

"A big huge jellyfish with teeth. Dumb, but strong. Devoured other demons like crackers. Actually that thing had been the most powerful thing here before Anducar came. Even with his power he could not kill it, so he sealed it away to keep it out of his hair" She narrowed her eyes and growled: "And that little bitch over there freed it!"

"This is bad"

"Very"

With another deafening roar the beast broke free from its prison. Bellum rose into the air, roaring and bellowing all the way up. It resembled a huge yellow jellyfish with huge maws and powerful teeth in its hood. Several black tentacles with eyes at their end hung below it as it rose up. The whole beast was at least 50 feet in diameter.

"Don't touch the sucker's tentacles" Onnen warned them, "Their poison is really nasty"

"Don't you see?" Daloriel jelled ecstatic, "You have lost! Soon I will become one with the demon!" He turned to the beast and shouted: "Come here, Bellum! Give me your powers!"

The giant jellyfish roared again and dove down. But instead of obeying the sorcerer it opened up his maws.

Daloriel widened his eyes when it came down on him, noting out of the corner of his eye the others jumping away. "No! Bellum! Obey me!"

Only the beast did not obey him. With a last scream of the sorcerer the creature crushed down, swallowing the unlucky sorcerer as a whole.

Daloriel did indeed become one with the demon, only he did not want it this way. He ended up as Bellum's first real food for millennia.

But it was not satisfied yet and turned towards the portal. It sensed many lives out there, much to feed on. With another roar it began to ascend towards the portal.

"Oh no" Link growled, "Not on my watch!"

And with that said, the seven attacked the terrible demon to prevent it from crossing over.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Fighting a giant jellyfish demon was more difficult than thought. It was only vulnerable at its hood, but at the same time one could not attack it from below because of the numerous black tentacles spiked with uncountable poison stings. The only option was to attack from above… but since the beast was flying, that was also difficult.

Luckily they had Onnen with them. She had summoned her magic again, beginning to burn and unleashing massive walls of fire against the jellyfish. Bellum roared out when it was hit and dove away for cover – but there was no escape before the daemons magical attacks.

"Ya gotta chop off the sucker's arms!" Onnen yelled, unleashing an array of spiked tentacle-like vines on the beast, "Then ya can smash it!"

Bellum roared out and dove around to attack the daemon, but that was the moment they had all waited for. In the moment before the demon had reached the smaller woman, the others attacked with swords and magic, digging their weapons deep into the beasts' maws and hood.

The jellyfish screeched out and floated back up, almost hitting the persons with its tentacles.

Link and Shadow used Skyward Strikes, managing to hit some of the beast's arms and severing them. However, Bellum did not even seem to notice this as it turned towards the portal.

"Damn it!" Sam yelled, "That thing got a memory of what? Ten seconds? We are its enemies!"

"It does not have a brain, what do you expect?" Midna shot back. Then both of them evaded and threw magical projectiles at the creature.

Ghirahim jumped cursing back, evading a certainly painful hit and teleported, appearing next to the other two heavy fighters. "Okay ladies, for a brainless clump of jello that thing is quite dangerous. Any ideas?"

"We smash it until its dead"

"Sounds good"

"It's a plan"

"Watch out! Bellum's trying to escape again!"

With that they turned back to the task at hand.

-oo0oo-

Even though the remaining group looked calm they were extremely tense. The Hylians, Mercuria and some of Zhoom's best warriors had gathered around the portal leading to Stone Heaven. It was the place where the border between Over- and Underworld was especially thin, thus a demon would most likely appear here.

The portal itself had been built on a mountain south of Dyr-Laigh. Some ancient Dryad ruins stood everywhere around.

Mercuria, who was sitting on a fallen pillar, did not look up from sharpening her swords when Vaati approached her. "This tension is killing me" he growled, "I can't stand to wait without doing anything!"

"Calm down, sorcerer" the Seraphim replied and put her swords away. "Soon you will be needed. And for that you should prepare, too"

"I don't have anything I need to prepare…"

"What about the demonic presence inside you?" At that Vaati took a step back. He had not thought about that. Mercuria – seeing that she was right again, sighed out and said: "Prepare yourself and enforce the barriers around the demon. If this portal opens, it will become restless again" Her white eyes narrowed as she called forth her javelin-like BFG weapon. "If you should lose control and turn against us, I shall not hesitate to attack the beast"

Vaati gulped: "… Would you really make Fuu an orphan?"

"Not of you don't turn against us"

"Oh… okay then"

Another heavy tremor shook the place. One Dryad shaman grumbled: "The border will soon break. We have to get ready"

-oo0oo-

Things didn't look good in Underworld, either. The huge jellyfish with teeth had obviously a few tricks up its hood and was also mighty pissed already.

It attacked now with powerful lightning attacks, forcing its attackers into the defensive. Only Onnen was insane enough to attack the thing head-on. Well, she had also the necessary defensive and regenerative abilities to do so. Anyone else would either die or at least being severely injured through such attacks, but Onnen simply shrugged it off and continued fighting.

Bellum roared out again and leashed out enraged. And this time it finally managed to hit something! Shadow grunted when he was hit by one of the beasts' tentacles, luckily his shield prevented worse. But he lost the Redeemer and was thrown against Link. Both men hit the ground hard, but managed to scramble to their feet before Bellum could finish them off.

"Ah damn!" Shadow cursed, "Ghira! Bring me my sword!"

However, the Sword Spirit could not get very far before the jellyfish beast attacked him, too. Bellowing Bellum sent out a volley of electric discharges, forcing everyone away. Once the creature did not see anyone in its closer vicinity, Bellum started to rise again.

"Stay here ya bitch!" Onnen shouted and flapped her wings to attack, but Bellum saw her coming and leashed out. The daemon was hit and crushed back down; hard onto the ground. But as the fighter she was, she jumped up and roared: "Now I'm pissed, bitch!"

"Onnen! Bellum has reached the portal!"

"…Shit"

In the very moment Bellum had reached the still open portal it began to force itself through. The portal reacted violently towards the demon's powers, sending out lightning of deadly force.

"These lightning is fatal. I advise you to not touch them." Fi spoke up from inside the Master Blade.

"We have to stop that thing!"

"But there's no way we can get closer to it! The magic would kill us right away!"

The portal broke open and Bellum started to cross over into the Overworld. They knew immediately that they could not do anything anymore. They had lost.

Suddenly Link hissed out in twinge.

His shirt felt as if it had been set aflame.

The last time this happened was twenty years ago when they fought against Anducar and it could only mean one thing…

-oo0oo-

The Dryads jumped to their feet. A huge red glowing crack opened up, running through the whole mountain. Oppressive demonic powers flowed out of it – Vaati noticed this immediately as his demon began to take over. He could keep it back for now, though.

Mercuria narrowed her eyes and waited for the beast to appear.

And she had not to wait long. With a deafening roar Bellum broke through the ground, its powerful jaws glinted with salvia as its eyeless body pushed itself through the portal.

"NOW!" The Seraphim yelled. At once all Dryads, Ashei and the three adolescents unleashed a true rainstorm of blessed arrows – Mercuria had blessed them a few hours earlier – onto the beast. Mercuria and Zelda supported them with powerful Radiant Pillars.

Bellum roared out again and stopped dead in its advance, but it did not retreat either. Suddenly it unleashed a magical array, forcing them to retreat for now.

Only then Vaati attacked. He had changed into his Reborn shape. The tall, robed figure was quasi an agreement between his demon and himself. And since both of them had now a common aim, they could bundle their powers and become this way even more powerful. Because of this his Reborn shape was truly his most powerful appearance.

And Vaati's attacks could not only stop the beast, but also force it back. At least a little bit. His shields were strong enough to withstand the demon's attacks for a while.

Still, it was not enough.

Even despite the relentless attacks of Vaati, Seraphim magic and Dryad arrows, Bellum refused to go from this world. Here was so much food to be found.

It charged up a powerful attack, powerful enough to make even Vaati's demon shy back in fear.

Mercuria narrowed her white eyes. "This is bad…" she grumbled. "At least I now understand why Anducar sealed the beast instead of killing it"

"Mercuria!" Zelda shouted appalled, "What's this?"

"Bad news!" the Seraphim answered. "If it starts this attack, it will kill everything in a half-mile radius! Vaati! Stop it!"

"I can't promise anything" the sorcerer replied, his voice was twisted in an unnatural way, making him sound like a monster. "My demon acts odd; I doubt it wants to fight this beast"

"Okay, this is really bad" Mercuria grumbled. She prepared mentally for raising a powerful shield when something unsuspected happened.

Bellum suddenly stopped its attack and made a surprised noise. And – suddenly, without any apparent reason – it slipped back into the Underworld with an enraged roar.

Vaati blinked at the spot where the huge yellow demon had been until now with all three eyes. "Can someone please explain me what happened?"

"I wish I could…"

Confused the lot of them watched the glow dieing away. Within a few minutes the portal had been closed again. Only a hole in the ground was left behind. Vaati landed, transformed back and asked: "Was that it?"

Mercuria tilted her head. "I have no idea. We should remain guarded"

-oo0oo-

Bellum had reached the portal. Half of its body had already passed through the portal, the ones in Hell's Ridge had no chance to stop it.

Samura noted that Midna hissed out and began to rub one of her feet – the one with the burn scar on it. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Link reacting in a similar way.

And then she saw the reason for this.

A fiery sheen had appeared on the top of the slope. It moved, as if a wild fire would make its way towards them.

"This feeling…" Midna hissed out, "I felt it before. Twenty years ago… in the palace of Hyrule… It can only be him"

"…Him?"

Diaanja answered her friend's question: "My father"

A massive wall of fire appeared there on the slope and the ground began to shake. Thundering steps came closer.

And then he came around the corner. A beast, looking like an 80 feet tall burning Lynel. It had a lion's head with a crown of horns, mounted on the torso of a muscular man. Where the legs should be the hips were fused with the shoulders of a large, black lion. The whole beast was covered with black stone-like scales and a flaming mane ran over its back.

Demise. And he was in his Subkari shape.

No, not his Subkari shape. It was his true appearance.

The appearance of a true Demon King.

Demise saw the giant jellyfish and reacted at once. **"You won't get away, Bellum"** he growled. With a powerful leap he jumped over the whole plateau and latched onto Bellum's lower quarters. His flames were so hot that they burnt through the poison stings, rendering the tentacles useless. And the lightning was also useless against him.

The sudden increase in weight startled Bellum and the demon was not strong enough to escape the Demon King's grasp. Like a wrestler Demise tugged the demon down and threw it to the ground. Bellum hit the rocks in a heavy impact and screeched out in anger, but Demise ignored that.

He did not look to the angrily roaring and foaming jellyfish creature, but rather to the portal above them. **"It would be a shame if you would leave before I'm done with you"** Demise growled. With a simple wave of his huge, burning claw, he forced the portal shut.

When it was done he turned to his opponent. The huge yellow jellyfish rose back and roared at him, challenging the burning demon to a fight.

And Demise accepted.

Despite the burning pain from his demon marks, Link could not dare to avoid his eyes.

It was like watching a train wreck.

"Now that's gonna be great" Onnen exclaimed happily. "I have waited eons to watch such a battle!"

Link was not so sure whether he would enjoy this fight.

Neither was he sure to survive it since there would be two super-powered ancient demons fighting each other mercilessly.

Being an innocent bystander was the worst one could be right about now…


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Bellum attacked with madness in its eyes and salvia-dripping, bared fangs. Demise merely raised his only available eyebrow (well, since his demon shape did not have eyebrows, he could not raise them; but if he did he would), stepped lightly aside, grabbed onto the jellyfish demon and threw him against a wall with absolute ease.

He was not even trying – and he was winning!

Shadow – he had ran over to Link who was still crouched down in pain – shouted: "Damn! When did he get this strong?"

"Remark" Fi spoke up, "This is the true strength of Demon King Demise"

"That's his true…?" Shadow asked baffled. Looking back to the downright huge, burning Lynel-like demon he stuttered: "How can it be that he was defeated in the past thrice? Don't get me wrong, but he looks pretty much unstoppable"

"The first time Demise had been defeated it took a Goddess to only seal him away. The second time he was not yet fully restored. And the third time he had no access to his full powers since he did not fight in the true demon and was faced with eight powerful opponents at once – two of them were able to use magic capable of truly injuring a demon" Fi paused before continuing: "Here he is entirely recovered and at the peak of his powers. Trying to challenge him here and now would be the worst and last thing one could do"

"Wouldn't even dare to think… ngh… about this" Link grunted. The demon marks from his rather unfortunate encounter with the Sakkara Demon twenty years ago reacted violently towards the giant demon.

Much to Link's luck and pretty much everyone's surprise however, Demise did something they did not expect.

"**You disappoint me badly, Bellum" **he snarled, **"I had hoped you were more of a challenge. Even despite your incredible demonic powers, you are nothing more than a huge, dumb beast. You do not deserve to witness my true might" **Bellum roared at him again, but Demise simply huffed out in frustration. **"Like I said. No challenge for me"**

In that moment he was engulfed in flames. The fire roared up into the sky before dieing away again. Demise had returned to his human shape. At once the pain from the demon marks on Link and Midna began to wane.

The demon king cocked his head and crossed his arms. "I never needed my true powers to deal with something such as yourself, Bellum"

Bellum roared and attacked, but even despite having returned to his less powerful shape, Demise was still not intimidated in the least. Quite the contrary even. As casual as one taking a stroll, he walked around the huge golden jellyfish.

Only now did Link notice what he was aiming at: The Redeemer that still lay quite a bit away.

In the moment Demise picked the sword up, Ghirahim cried out in twinge, dispersed into orange-glowing diamond spots and returned to his sword. But in Demise's hands the blade became wicked and dark once more. His powers were so immense that he transformed the Redeemer back into the jagged black sword he had used before.

Bringing his black sword containing Ghirahim in front of his eyes he smirked. "I never said I would not use a weapon, though"

Bellum screeched out and shot forward, but Demise brought his sword up and cleaved the whole beast in half.

"WOW!" was all Onnen said to that. "Who would've known that a Sakkara could be that friggin' powerful?"

"…Sakkara?"

"Didn't ya know? He's a Sakkara demon. Although an ancient one!" She smirked happily and her green eyes began to glow in a dangerous way. "Dealin' with that guy will be excitin' beyond belief!"

Midna threw her a side-glance. "You sure you want that? He could starve you on an outstretched arm!" Pointing furiously down the Twili Queen added: "Did you see what he did with Bellum?"

"He split it to increase some fun" Onnen smirked again. "See for ya'selves!"

"Split?"

Only now did they notice that Bellum was not dead. It had turned into two much smaller and less powerful beasts – but they were faster than before. And since they all shared the powers the demon had before, they could split it equally amongst themselves.

But Demise was grinning. "Now we're talking, Bellum. What took you so long?"

While the demon king began to fight against the split jellyfish – he split it a few times more to have more foes – the others began to gather together.

"Shall we call it a day and leave that to him?" Shadow asked uncertain. "I mean… he seems to know what he's doing"

"Who would have thought that a guy of his size could move this fast and agile?"

Demise kicked an advancing jellyfish demon away and roared: "Hey Succubi! Are you only going to stand there? Get down here and show me what you got!"

Onnen smiled pleasantly. "I feared ya wouldn't say that at all!" With that she took her claymore again and jumped into action. "Come half-blood!" she yelled while running towards the enemies, "He meant ya as well!"

Diaanja looked surprised after them before she too began to run towards them. Link looked up to Shadow and said: "We call it a day and leave it to the monsters"

-0-

Demise smashed his sword into another jellyfish. He had noted that they had to be split several times before they simply could not regenerate again and died. After all those centuries he was finally able to fight to his black heart's desire.

But in his state of onslaught he did not take care about his one weakness: His left eye.

Since it had been blinded, he could not see anything coming from that side. And right now it was a teeth-baring yellow jellyfish.

However, before the beast could dig its teeth into the other demon's body, it screeched out and was killed by a powerful magical blast. Demise turned around and discovered Samura standing beside him. But instead of anger or surprise he looked somewhat… pleased.

"Finally coming out again, are we?" he said chuckling, "It was an honour to fight on your side before, Ganondorf, and it will be an honour to do so again"

Sam looked up to him with confusion. "My name is not Ganondorf… I am his daughter and heir, but my name is Samura"

Demise roared out in laughter: "Hah! You do not remember? Rebirth is a pain, isn't it?" Sam stared at him, her confusion was only increasing. "No matter whether you know or not. Show me how much of your old fire is still inside you"

Sam, despite being still confused, narrowed her eyes and nodded.

"Good. Take those over there"

"Whatever. I'd say the one that kills most of them, gets pie afterwards"

Demise smirked. He had heard this before. "Fine by me"

"Ey ya big burning ogre!" Onnen shouted, "Are ya gonna kill stuff or are ya gonna blab off that girls' ears?"

"Killing of course… I had to wait way too long for this"


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

With a panicked squeaking and a nasty squishing sound the last part of the demon Bellum met its end under Demise's foot. The demon king wiped the remains disgustedly off on a few rocks.

"Well, ya could say Bellum met its Demise" Onnen piped up grinning from behind the massive black demon. Demise glared at her for this bad pun while the others groaned in collective.

To distract the demon king from violently murdering Onnen, Link took the lead. "Anyways, even though I do not believe what I'm going to do… thank you for your help" He turned to Onnen, ignoring the glare of Demise (he glared a lot) and said: "Can you please get us back to Purgatori?"

"I wanted to deal with the big guy here first" the daemon grumbled.

"And I believe it's a bad place for this kind of dealing" was the prompt answer.

Onnen blinked at him, sighed out and said: "I guess ya right… Okay, mortals, then we'll gonna bring ya back to Purgatori"

Raising an eyebrow Midna asked: "'We'?"

"Did ya really think I'd let this option slip? I'm takin' the big guy with me"

"…You want… to take Demise… back with us?" Shadow asked carefully and disbelievingly. "Why?"

"So I don't need to find him later again. Although…" she shot an amused gaze to the huge demon, "…followin' his track is easier than followin' a herd of Glorbs"

Before Link, Midna and Shadow could say something against that, the black sword Demise held dispersed and became Ghirahim again. The pale demon was looking somewhat dishevelled – after having wielded by Shadow for years, he was simply not used anymore to the rather rough handling through Demise.

"Wow… That was a trip!" he grunted and collapsed to the ground where he turned back into the Redeemer. Shadow only had to pick the sword back up.

A few minutes later the track started back towards Stone Heaven.

-oo0oo-

Several pairs of eyes were staring intensely on a big hole in the ground. The sun was already throwing long shadows. Nobody said anything.

It was Ashei who finally broke the silence: "I doubt that something's going to happen. How about we just call it off and go back?"

Mercuria said nothing, but she was pouting. Perhaps because she was not able to slay any demons today.

"That's a good idea" Kuat said. "I'm hungry"

"I have to pee"

"My feet hurt"

"I'm tired"

"I…"

"OKAY!" the Seraphim growled, "We call it off!"

"Yay!"

The group began to move back to the Dryad capital Dyr-Laigh.

"Fuu will worry about me" Vaati grumbled.

"It's somewhat cute to see how you interact with your son" Zelda exclaimed grinning and nudged her elbow into the sorcerer's ribs. "Honestly, I would not have expected you to be so… fatherly"

Vaati shot her an amused glance. "Neither was I expecting to. I was pretty much screaming my head off when he was born. First months were terrible, too. But now… I think I want some more"

"Whether Midna wants to, too?"

"Mooom? Can we go and eat something? I'm starving"

"And I have to pee!"

"Then go into the shrubs over there"

All in all, peace finally returned to Eden. Soon they would be reunited with their loved ones, and then they would return to Hyrule.

-oo0oo-

The way back to Purgatori was far less strenuous and accomplished faster than before. Main reason for that was the looming behemoth which now accompanied the group. Demises' aura was so strong that his presence alone kept all other demons at bay.

Seen from that point it was beneficial to have him around. Even despite this fact, Link was somewhat uncomfortable since he knew that his former enemy was only a few feet behind him.

"Well, at least he found himself some fans" Midna said out of the blue.

"Yeah. One of them is a monster, the other is his daughter and the last is his former ally reborn" Shadow sighed out, "We really shouldn't wonder about this"

"By the way, how's Ghirahim?" Link asked then, "I remember he was pretty jazzed last time I saw him"

"I doubt the whole transforming from Seraphim to Demon back to Seraphim weapon was good for him. He had not yet tried to talk to me again"

"Stop babblin'!" Onnen called out, "Purgatori's right in front of ya"

Soon the group passed through the huge heavy wood gates. Demise cocked his head at the sight of Sakkara Demon skulls when they walked through Purgatori. "How did the Haduk manage to kill some of my brethren?"

"I think the quality's suckin' ever since ya left" Onnen replied airily.

Interrupting her train of thought was the Hylian King. "I think this is where we're parting ways again" Link huffed out. "Thank you, Onnen"

"Keep that sweet crap to ya'selves. I merely wanted to vent my boredom" She jerked a thumb into the general direction of the behemoth as she continued smirking: "I still got to deal with the big guy"

Midna raised her eyebrows at that and looked over to the huge demon who was just talking to his daughter. "I mean, I don't really _like _him, but he helped us a lot. Do you really need to deal with him?"

"Now more than ever, dear" Onnen grinned.

Demise added smirking: "Rules are rules – and this Succubus is worthy of… my attention" He turned to Diaanja who looked up to him in anticipation. "Don't you ever lose that girl" he said, "She's the rebirth of my old ally. And she will support you in future"

Diaanja looked to her friend Samura and then back to Demise. "Thank you… father" She then walked over to the others.

Demise turned towards them and said: "By the way, you already owe me _two_ pies, Ganon!"

Sam glared at him and grumbled: "Whatever". Then she opened the portal back to the Dryad Island.

One after another went through the portal, and even Ghirahim flipped out of the Redeemer to wave good-bye to his late master. When they were gone, the portal closed again.

Onnen crossed her arms and looked up to the massive demon towering over her. She punched his flank playfully, saying: "Come. My place's in the Valley of Tears, in the Lower Underworld"

Demise stared at the portal for a while before he turned and went out of the city again. Onnen followed him close on his heels. "I'll turn Underworld into the true realm of demons again" he finally said, "It is my land after all, and I will rule it as a King once…"

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks and glared down to Onnen. She was grinning broadly at him. "Did you just slap my ass?"

And Onnen answered smirking: "Could be"

-oo0oo-

Link could have cursed again when they stepped back into the sultriness of Eden. He stopped his tongue, though, at the view of his wife and daughter. Finally he could reunite with the ones he loved.

Of course the children were taken back when they saw the unfamiliar and rather ridiculous combination of white, red and gold that was Ghirahim, but after they found out who it was, they were more relaxed.

Link had to smile. "We're back. And I hope that was it with the whole 'Rescuing Hyrule' stuff"

Shadow grinned: "Ready to leave that to your ancestors?"

"Absolutely"

"Dad!" Kuat and Iae called out, "Look what Mercuria gave us!"

"Wow. New swords!"

"The best weapons of all of Ancaria. My old friend Orik made them" the Seraphim explained smiling.

"Wasn't that this stubborn dwarf?" Zhoom asked from where she was seated on her Monitor Lizard.

"He is"

"Wasn't he long since dead?"

"Orik? Nah" Mercuria laughed, "He's as thick-headed as he's old. It wouldn't surprise me if he survived you"

"Let's see about this Miss Holy"

The group began to move back to Dyr-Laigh.

While they walked, Fai asked her father: "Can we visit Onnen later on?"

"Onnen?" the Hylian King asked surprised, "Why do you want that?"

"Well… Onnen's not exactly the nicest person around" Fai began.

"But she helped us a lot" Kuat replied. And Iae continued: "And we kinda like her"

"Hmm… okay" Link mumbled, "I see that. Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Shadow added: "If something's left of her and/or Underworld later"

"What do you mean, Shadow?" Zelda inquired.

"Oh, she said she wanted to deal with Demise. And since I heard that demons would fight each other… Well, I'm afraid that a lot of stuff would be damaged when those two clashed"

"Wait… You met Demise?" Mercuria threw in surprised.

"Yeah. He somehow survived Anducar's attack and recovered. We met him in Hell's Ridge" Jabbing his thumb into the direction of the now grey-skinned Ghirahim he continued: "Why do you think Ghira's back to his human shape?"

"…And you are certain he is now with Onnen?"

"If they have not already killed one another"

Mercuria sighed out. "If that's the case, then don't worry about Onnen" she said. "It is true that demons of equal strength fight each other heatedly – but only if they have the same sex or are genderless"

The others tilted their heads in confusion. "And if that's not the case?"

Mercuria did neither stop or slowed her pace, nor was she turning to face them. She simply went further and said – monotone as if it was the most certain thing of the world - only one sentence, but this shocked the attendant crowd thoroughly.

"Then they'll be mating with each other of course"

A long awkward pause followed. And to make things worse, Mercuria added then: "You wouldn't want to be around for that either anyways"


	27. Epilouge

**Epilouge**

Some weeks had passed ever since the group had returned to Hyrule. Mishirla had been there to thank them personally, then he had left with Diaanja and Samura. The Twili pair was still here, though, and Fuu enjoyed his stay. There were so many new things to discover! And he finally his parents had time to play with him.

Ghirahim watched them. Ever since he had been given his human shape, the Redeemer had been returned into his body in a dormant state. Shadow had not liked this in the beginning, but he eventually switched to a normal sword to let Ghirahim roam free. When needed, he would return the Redeemer, though.

"Enjoying the sun?" Zelda asked as she stepped up to the pale grey skinned demon lord.

Ghirahim grinned: "For sure, my dear Hylia" he said, "This makes me positively giddy"

"Even though the boys freaked out when they saw you first?" Zelda asked innocently. Ghirahim glared at her. But she was right. Kuat and Iae had been definitely shocked when he had appeared in front of them for the first time.

But by now they had gotten used to him.

"What will you do now?" Zelda asked.

"Ah, I suppose I'm fighting alongside Master Shadow until he doesn't need me anymore" he said, "And eventually, I'll return to Master Demise"

"Still hooked on him? What did he do exactly to gain your loyalty anyways?"

"This is my private thing, Hylia" Ghirahim answered. "Only so much, he made me feel more useful than your ancestor"

Zelda blinked at him for a moment, shrugged her shoulders and said smirking: "Well, if you ever feel useless and need a job – I could always need a … a Court Jester!"

Ghirahim stiffened and began to glare daggers. Zelda, noting his apparent rising anger, chuckled at her joke and hurried away.

"Court Jester" the demon grumbled, "Bah! Where did I hear that before?"

**Author's Note**

Done again ^^ Not as long as the last one.

I do hope you enjoy this little piece of fiction. Read and Review a lot!


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